Of Darkest Dawn
by SilverTailz
Summary: ((Sequel to Not Too Late)) Having completed the Trial, Kagome is focousing on recovery. Chaos strikes in the form of a terrible tragedy and the final battle with Naraku! She never expected it to be easy, but... IK MS
1. Homecoming

The sun rose hesitantly over the tiny village at the foot of Inuyasha's forest. Villagers all over stirred and began slowly leaking out of their modest little houses, and setting to another hard day's work. The farmers found their rakes and headed towards the rice fields; the harvest this year was assured to be marvelous—no one had ever seen so bountiful a yield. Fishermen walked down to the nearest rivers with nets and lines in tow, and a few hunters ventured into the forest to find some rabbit or something. Everything seemed so normal, but it wasn't. Evil was lurking nearby, behind the mask of sunny innocence.

"Kagome! Where do you think you're going?"

"What does it look like, baka? I'm going home!"

"WHAT?! Didn't you hear what Kaede said? You sh—"

"I shouldn't overtax myself. You've repeated that stupid warning fifty times! I'm _fine_, the well isn't even far! Just let me GO!"

"Stupid! How am I supposed to know that you're gonna come back?" He blurted his deepest worry without thinking, and immediately, his cheeks burned a fiery red. Both their eyes widened in surprise at the sudden confession and the half demon suddenly turned his back on her, hiding his disgraceful blush. "F-fine, if you wanna go," he snapped. "It's not like I _care_ or anything."

"Inuyasha," Kagome said softly, and reached for his shoulder. He shrugged her hand off grumpily, but she knew he was actually hurt by the fact that she wanted to leave. He had taken such good care of her... "I have to go see my family. They think I'm dead, remember?" He didn't answer, but he heard her. Of course he did. She continued, "I promise I'll be back soon. Okay?"

"Keh. Whatever," he muttered sulkily, and stood with his back to her until he couldn't hear her footsteps anymore. Only then did he bound back off towards the village, cursing under his breath every step of the way.

'Stupid wench...why do I always say things like that? It's not like I actually CARE...'

But even as he said it to himself, he knew it was a lie. And that made him even madder. He quickly pounded the sense out of a defenseless rock as he passed. Oh, well. It was one less blow Shippo would have to endure later.

((A/N: What did the poor rock ever do to you, Inuyasha?!))

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Kagome had left her pack at home. She realized this as she was climbing out of the well and could actually _climb_ out, without being smashed to the ground or pulled backwards by the evil enmity called gravity. Gravity was not her friend. Several times, while trying to heft the huge thing up the well shaft, she had fallen backwards to the dirt bottom only to have the thing land on top of her, wondering if that was what it was like to be 'sat'. (If so, she owed Inuyasha a huge apology.)

She paused at the top step and glanced around wistfully. The last time she had climbed down that well, she had been sure it was going to be the last time. She was back...she was really back, home...for the next few days (until her conscious got the best of her or Inuyasha lost his patience) she would be a normal school girl again...

With about a month's worth of makeup work.

Oh, yeah. Life sucked.

'Suck it up, girl.' In spite of the horrible idea of a back breaking load of homework, she smiled as her house came into view. It looked exactly the same as it had both the day she had gone into the future and the day she had left home 'for good.' The shingles shimmered slightly, and the windows shone with the morning light. The shrine was as clean as ever, gleaming as well, and Kagome felt as happy as if she'd found a new Shikon shard. It was nice to be home, after all.

'I wonder how everyone's gonna react? I mean...I'm supposed to be dead...' A rather comical image of Souta turning her room into a Nintendo shrine invaded her mind, and she twitched a moment, reminding herself firmly that she'd been to the future, and there hadn't been so much as a controller in there. Everything had been the way she'd left it. No worries. Everything was fine. A-OK. Marvelous. So why was she standing outside thinking of stupid things?

Kagome was not a liar, to herself or to other people. She knew how to admit to her faults and accept responsibility for her mistakes. In that moment she had to admit to herself that she was stalling.

'Okay...going in.' She walked hesitantly up to the stoop and absentmindedly tired to walk through the door as she had last time. For her effort she received a sore nose that thankfully wasn't bloody and a nice soon-to-be bruise on her forehead. 'You baka,' she scolded herself, holding her nose with one hand and opening the door with the other. She stepped into the foyer and closed the door back, calling thickly through her fingers, "I'm home."

No one answered. 'That's funny,' Kagome thought. It was a Saturday, if she'd been keeping count right. Everyone should've been home. She wandered into the kitchen just to be sure, but it was spotless as always. Her mother never was one to leave breakfast plates on the table for more than ten seconds. Not even Grandpa's newspaper was spared in the quick out-the-door cleaning. The table was bare.

Kagome looked down in surprise as her stomach grumbled at her. "Oh, right....I need to eat something," she said numbly, putting a hand up to quell the noise. "All right, hush would you? I'm working on it..." She walked over to the refrigerator and rummaged through the Tupperware containers. There was some rice, some kind of beef-type-thing, a tiny carry-out bag of what must've been Grandpa's sushi a few nights before... None of it was very appealing for breakfast. And then, the solution was clear. Oh, so clear.

Ramen! Of course! Why didn't she think of it sooner?

((A/N: Ahh, Ramen...the savior of the world...! ::Drools::))

It only took a quick glance through the pantry to find the cup of instant noodles. She took it out and placed it on the pantry. In record time she had located a pan, filled it with water, boiled the water and poured it into the Styrofoam cup. Traveling with Inuyasha had given her many talents, among which was the startling ability to fix Ramen a good minute and a half faster than most people ever could. Trying to feed a demanding, grumbling half-demon could do that to a person. More than once Kagome had wondered what she was most to Inuyasha: A friend, a babysitter, or just some random girl that got in his hair all the time.

'He's such a jerk,' she mused, sucking the noodles quietly. The memory of Inuyasha sitting there in complete shock that one morning, with Ramen streaming down his chin, suddenly invaded her brain, and she almost spit the noodles onto the floor. She swallowed her mouthful with a choking noise and then burst into ridiculous laughter. She couldn't stay mad at him. It was like trying to stay mad at a puppy.

A very loud, arrogant, bantering puppy.

'Jerk.'

"Meow?" Kagome almost jumped out of her skin. While she managed to keep (most of) her sanity, she _did_ accidentally spill hot Ramen all over her shirt and skirt. With a startled "EEP!" she leapt to her feet and began making furious waving motions meant to cool the hot liquid. She sat down feeling wet and sticky, and looked down to see the swish of Buyo's tail as he ran to hide. Kagome smiled and put the Styrofoam cup on the table. "Come here, Buyo. Here, kitty kitty." The tip of his nose peeked around the cabinets. "Oh, come on, you coward." He tiptoed out, as if scared of being attacked, and slowly made his way to her ankles. He rubbed his face against her, purring.

"Hey, boy. Did you miss me?" He purred a little louder in answer glancing up at her.

"I missed you too. Where's mom and everyone?" she asked, and he gave her a look that said 'Why are you asking ME?' She laughed and stood, and went to change into some clean clothes, with Buyo following sluggishly.

Back in her room, Kagome quietly closed the door, just in case. Buyo jumped up into her bed and played with the sheets while she changed into a more comfortable outfit—a pair of blue sweatpants and a matching T-shirt. She turned to turned to the fat cat asleep on her bed while she was pulling her socks on. "Yannow, Buyo, you may have the right idea," she said, and climbed into bed with him. Walking around WAS tiring, even if she'd never admit it; truth be told, she wouldn't have minded a nap every day, but didn't dare least she worry everyone. Not to mention Inuyasha's teasing. And he'd keep her in the village for days afterward.

Thinking back, he had only been trying to help. She shouldn't have yelled at him, but he was so infuriating...! She pulled the covers up to her head and snuggled down, allowing sleep to come almost instantly.

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Kagome woke up warm and sleepy a few hours later. It seemed to be about evening; the failing light was shining through the window. She wasn't sure what had woken her—she wasn't sore, there wasn't any noise. She glanced up, and found someone staring at her, mere inches from her face.

"EEP!" She squeaked, but the person didn't move.

It was Souta!

"Souta?"

He still didn't move. His expression was one of watery disbelief, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. She blinked at him, and his eyes shimmered with tears. "Souta?" she asked carefully, and suddenly, he was in her lap, holding onto her for dear life and sobbing. Kagome gasped as sharply as she could (he was squeezing her rather tightly) and looked down at his head, which was trembling. "Souta, it's okay," she soothed, patting his head until he calmed down enough to talk.

"Nee-chan! I thought—I thought—" He squeezed her tighter (if that was possible) and cried, apparently not embarrassed for once. "I thought you were gone! I was so scared," he whimpered, and Kagome could do nothing but hold her pain of a brother in wonder. "I thought I'd never see you again...Oh, Nee-chan!"

"It's okay, shhh," she murmured, and he looked up at her with teary eyes. What had happened to the pain that used to sneak in while she was doing homework and steal her pencils? Where was the boy that called her dough-head and dummy and all those other names?

"Souta? Are you in here again, sweetie?" Her mother's voice inquired from the hallway.

"Mom?" Kagome asked, and there was a sharp silence. The door opened and her mother walked in with wide eyes, dropping her groceries onto the floor. Mrs. Higarashi stared at the bed where her two children were tangled together, and tears filled her eyes as well. She ran to the bedside in a manner a lot like Souta's and swept both of them into her arms. Kagome blinked, in the strangling tight embrace of both her mother and little brother, and swallowed, waiting until she could breathe again.

Eventually, her mother did back up a smidge, with Souta following suit, to gaze at her daughter in wonder. "Kagome....you're...How?"

"It's okay, mom. Everything's fine now." She smiled into the watery expressions. "It's a long story. I'll explain later. Right now..." She glanced down guiltily. "I'm kind of hungry...."

"Oh!" Mrs. Higarashi jumped up, and kicked into mom-mode. "Of course you are! It's late! I'll go fix dinner!" And she hurried out, leaving Kagome and Souta alone. Souta was smiling at her, happily, drying his tears on his sleeve.

"I'm glad you're okay, Nee-chan," Souta said with a smile. He sat on her bed and looked to have no intention of leaving as he poked the lumps in the sheets around. Kagome eventually remembered something.

"Hey, Souta," she said, and he looked up.

"Nani?"

"Where were you guys today?" Souta's expression immediately became serious.

"Oh," he said, and Kagome distinctly saw his shoulders droop. "We were at the hospital."

"Why?" Kagome asked, but she already knew the answer. Her heart was pounding.

"Gramps is sick, Kagome. Not...well...not sick sick, but....he had a heart attack, and—"

"When? Is he all right?" Souta frowned, and his brow furrowed.

"It doesn't look good, but the doctors are going to do everything they can." Everything they can. The same doctors who had abandoned her to die. Kagome bit her lip and clenched her fist. Her shoulders shook, and Souta leaned forward concernedly.

"Don't cry, Nee-chan. It'll be okay," he comforted, as if he were the older sibling instead of the younger. "Don't worry. Gramps'll be okay."

She wanted to believe him. So why did something inside her tell her that it wouldn't?

"Yeah, Souta....it'll be...okay..."

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Tailz: OH MY STARS!! You're back!! ::Grabs the reader in a hug:: You came baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!! I'm so glad! - Miss me? Well, this is the long awaited sequel to my phenomenon ficcy Not Too Late...I welcome all my favorite oldies, and hopefully some new readers too! If you haven't read Not Too Late, I'd strongly suggest you go read it before you read on, but...I guess it would be okay. This is going to be one roller coaster of a ficcy, I can tell you that much! Angst, drama and romance are straight ahead—but don't worry; I'll mix in some action/adventure to make things interesting and some odd-placed humor to lighten the mood every now and then. Thank you for coming! I'll update soon! -

Sanji: ::Forces Tailz to release the strangled reader:: Tailz! Let 'em breathe!

Tailz: Oops...sorry!


	2. The Locked Window

How long had she been gone? Six days, Inuyasha counted. Six numb, lonely, painful days. In the beginning he had been angry. By the second day he was barely irritated, and by the third he was worried sick. What if something had happened to her? He had been sure she would come back after a day or so. She had gone to reassure her mother and that Souta kid that she was okay. It was only to be expected that she would want to visit with them a while, but...six days? What if she was so sick she couldn't move? Kaede had said that would probably happen a few times in the months to come.

At first he had been too irritated, too stubborn to go. Now he was trying to do the right thing. He didn't want to rush Kagome—she'd done so much already, she was surely entitled to a rest at home with her family. In the end, though, his concern won out, and he decided that if she wasn't back by sun down he would go to see what was up. Not necessarily make her come back, but just check in, make sure everything was okay.

He felt so feeble and tame all of the sudden. All the control, the attitude he had worked his entire life for had slipped through his fingers sometime in this affair, and he didn't like the feeling at all. To think, all these emotions, all this turmoil was over one pathetic, weak, stupid human.

Inuyasha sighed in abandon, leaning against the firm trunk of the God Tree. Sunset could not come soon enough.

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Kagome stared numbly at the door that had been closed and locked since the previous afternoon. The door knob had not turned once. Her mother had knocked on the door with meals a few times, and Souta had even come by, but she had ignored them, pretending to be asleep. She knew it was selfish. They were upset, too. But her mind was much too numb to be thinking rationally, and she was far from being her normal docile self.

Gramps...she couldn't believe it. Her mother had met them both in the kitchen early, on the fifth day of Kagome's return. They'd monitored her grandfather's condition since the day of her return. He had seemed stable at first, with a good chance of a full recovery, and then... it had ended. Heart failure, her mother had murmured in a voice of forced calm. It was sudden...there was nothing anyone could do. His heart had just...stopped.

Limbo had been pitch black, but those last few days had seemed just as dark.

She was dressed in pajamas. She hadn't bothered to change or brush her hair or even take a bath since the news. In fact, she didn't do much. She had lain there limply on her bed, staring at the ceiling, at the walls, at the carpet, at the locked window across the room. Her body told her she was tired and hungry, but she refused to feel anything. Sleeping would bring dreams, and she wasn't ready to dream. Her apatite had disappeared, and the thought of food alone was enough to make her feel nauseous. So she ignored everything.

It was so hard to believe. The irony was potent enough to burn her at twenty paces. She had gone through hell to be able to go on living—faced limbo, faced monsters, faced unbelievable odds, and succeeded, only to lose someone else to death. Were the gods laughing? She felt like a character in some stupid angst novel. The next step, of course, would be suicide.

But she wouldn't do that. At the moment, she wasn't even planning to move.

Idly, Kagome ran her fingers over the fuzzy teddy bear Hojo had given her the last time she had gone to school. It was a brown, goofy looking creature with big black eyes and a stupid smile, and sewn on its belly in blue thread were the words 'You're Beary Special! Get Well Soon!' She picked at its fur, and eventually turned it over, unable to look at the haunting grin any longer. With a sudden surge of energy, she pitched the thing across the room, and it made a soft THUD as it bounced off the wall.

The small movement was exhausting. Kagome didn't want to move. She lay back on the bed and stared at the white ceiling above. Whiteness, nothingness surrounded her and suddenly she was floating, carried by nothing in particular but her own imagination. She saw Tsuki smiling sadly at her, and then her brother, and then Inuyasha, looking worried. He stared at her and mouthed something anxiously, his hand at his side clenching and unclenching.

Kagome clenched her own fist, and felt the soft fabric of her sheets intertwined in her fingers. And then the white was gone, and she was on her back on the bed again, staring at the ceiling that had always been there. Her head was hurting, and she was annoyed with the pain, but did nothing about it. What was there to do anyway? A glass of water might help, she thought, but she had no intention of going downstairs. She didn't want to talk to her mother at the moment—a kind word would be enough to make her cry again, and her mother was full of them. No, she would just simply deal with it.

She guessed by the light filtering through her window that it was nearing sunset, or was at least early afternoon. Fading shadows crept across the fluffy white carpet, stretching their dark fingers towards her menacingly, tickling the legs of her chair as they passed. A rather strong breeze was making the trees wave—the swish of leaves and branches was the only sound audible, besides the bedside clock's ticking. The tree just outside the window was tapping on the glass like an impatient friend, demanding entrance. Birds were singing. Kagome breathed and flopped over, lying on her stomach and allowing her arms to hand limply. She played with the carpet a little, weaving her fingers amongst the stuff. It was course, and rough, but she preferred it to the sheets she hadn't left—hadn't the power to leave.

Kagome choked lightly and straightened up again, lying against the wall. (It was harder to breathe hanging upside down like that.) She glanced furiously at the mirror across the room on her dresser, and saw herself, balled into a pathetic fetal position, looking lifeless and tired and pathetic...and felt the most extraordinary urge to shatter the glass forever. But her arms were too tired, and her muscles were too sore, and she didn't have the will to get up. Instead, she turned her back on it disgustedly, and stared at the wall until the whiteness engulfed her.

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Against the pink-purple expanse, the sun set, and another day ended gracefully. A lovely blue color began to splash across the sky like paint on a canvas, and a few twinkling stars scattered themselves, blinking merrily down upon the forest blow. Inuyasha grimaced, and jumped down from the tree, making his way to the well. He had tried, hadn't he? He had tried to be patient and wait, but she had been gone long enough. It was time to see what in Kami's name had happened to her.

He leapt through the well.

On the other side, it took but a quick jump to remove himself from the old well, and a few shorter ones to leave the well house. He darted across the courtyard, a red blur, as if he were dodging demon attacks and leapt up into the tree by Kagome's window. It was closed, and the curtains were pulled close. That was a definite bad sign. They were always open. He reached over to the handle, to pull the window open.

It wouldn't budge.

Inuyasha blinked incredulously. The window was locked! Never, not once since she'd met him had Kagome locked her bedroom window. She knew he preferred it to doors (and being mauled by Souta) so it was always open in welcome. Inuyasha's ears twitched, listening for any sound. There was the clamor of pans in the kitchen, but that was it.

That's it. He was definitely going in now. He could break the glass—it would be a single punch—but he knew Kagome would be angry, and he didn't feel like being sat at the moment. He resolved, instead, to go down to the stoop and enter through the door like normal people. That was something he hadn't done in a while. He'd always used the window. He sighed, and dropped down onto the doorstep, and knocked hesitantly on the door. There was a scurrying inside, and footsteps. The door swung open, and Souta peeked up at him.

Inuyasha almost flinched out of habit, expecting to be tackled around the middle as usual, but that didn't happen. Souta looked up at him with solemn dark eyes that reminded him of his sister's, and slowly opened the door for him. "Hi, Nii-chan," he muttered hoarsely, his voice thick. He'd been crying. Inuyasha's heart pounded his ribs painfully.

He knelt quickly by the child's side and took him by the small shoulders. "Souta," he said urgently, looking directly into the solemn eyes, searching for the truth he didn't want to see. "What's wrong? What—what happened?" Souta stared back at him blankly, and then, as though he'd suddenly woken up, his eyes glistened with tears and he flung himself at his idol. Inuyasha staggered and nearly fell, only managing to keep his balance while his best friend's little brother sobbed into his collar. He'd never really been the best comforter in the world, but he tried, patting his head awkwardly. "Souta," he said when he took a moment to breathe, "please tell me what's wrong."

"It's jii-chan," the boy whimpered, and Inuyasha's face contorted into disbelief.

"What?"

"Jii-chan," Souta repeated. "Jii-chan is—is—"

"Spit it out," Inuyasha said with a hint of impatience, and Souta choked back another sob.

"He's gone, Nii-chan. He's...he's dead."

Inuyasha understood. He sat there, stone still for a moment, before pulling back and looking into the younger boy's flushed face. "Your sister," he said quietly. "Where is she?"

"In her room," Souta sniffled. "She's been in there since yesterday when—when momma told us." So THAT had been why the window was closed...Inuyasha firmly forbid his face to show any relief, afraid that Souta might take it the wrong way. He offered a weak smile and stood up.

"The door's locked, isn't it."

"Yes...."

"Do you know where the key is?" Inuyasha asked carefully, and Souta looked hopeful.

"Yeah...I'll go ask mom for it." He rushed into the kitchen. Inuyasha could hear the two voices for a moment, and then the dishes stopped clinking and Souta came back with his mother at his heels.

"Oh, Inuyasha dear," she said with a tired smile. "How nice of you to come visit Kagome." She removed from her pocket a small silvery key, and handed it over. Inuyasha closed his fingers around the cold metal, feeling its metallic weight against his palm strangely comforting. "It...it's good that you've come," Mrs. H. said falteringly, and she looked away. "Kagome...hasn't eaten anything in almost two days...and she won't let us in. I don't want to push her, but...it might be good for her to have some company." She smiled, and turned back towards the kitchen, saying, "Dinner's almost ready. If you want, I'll bring some for the two of you in a while."

"Thanks," Inuyasha said awkwardly, feeling oddly at home. What a weird feeling.

"You're welcome," Mrs. Higarashi said. "Oh, and Inuyasha..."

"Yeah?"

She turned back with the tiniest of sad smiles. "Please be gentle. She's hurting so badly."

Inuyasha nodded and was gone down the dim hallway.

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Tailz: Awww...Please don't hate me, Minna-chan....I'm sorry, angst is my style... ::Grovels pitifully at the readers' feet:: I promise, I'll make up for it later with lots and lots and lots and lots of pretty fluffiness...but poor Kagome-chan is going to have a rough time for a while... :'( Review, please! I'll update soon!


	3. Come with Me

The key was waiting in the lock expectantly, but the door remained closed. Inuyasha's hand was curved around the end of the key, ready to turn it and remove the obstruction between himself and Kagome. The power to open the door was in his hands. And yet, he hesitated. He was faintly afraid, though he never would've admitted it to anyone else—he could barely admit it to himself. Why was he afraid? Was he afraid of what he would see? Was he afraid of what might've happened to her? What might yet happen to her? He didn't know the answers to his own questions, but he did know that his heart was pounding again, and the beginning of a cold sweat was clinging to his brow.

'Calm down,' he told himself, staring at the key that protruded from the knob like a sword from a demon's heart. 'This is Kagome. Not something to be afraid of.' He couldn't go in acting afraid; how could he console her if she thought he was afraid of her? He needed to be strong, and gentle, but he wasn't sure _how_. How could he make something like this better? He knew she must be in terrible pain...This was the girl that cried for the dead villagers she didn't even know. To have someone so close to her die, even as she was fighting to get better herself...

She must've felt so miserable...and guilty...probably worthless, too, come to think of it... Which she wasn't. Inuyasha would never allow anyone to call Kagome worthless; he wouldn't even let her think it of herself. He would simply have to tell her how much he thought of her, and convince her to come back to the Feudal Era. He was certain getting away would be good for her (and good for his peace of mind as well).

'All right,' Inuyasha thought. 'Here goes...'

The lock made a quiet _click_ as it slid away docilely. The door swung open silently, and Inuyasha stepped in and closed it just so.

Everything about the room was gloomy. There was not a light on in the whole place, and since it was night time, it was pretty dark. Evil shadows were cast over everything, giving a foreboding, uncomfortable atmosphere. Inuyasha swallowed. He could make out the prone form of Kagome on her bed, laying with her back facing him. She had not so much as moved when he entered the room—she was lying so still, she looked for all the world to be asleep.

But she wasn't. Inuyasha knew that. Her uneven breathing was a dead give away. No sleeper breathed like that, and certainly not Kagome.

He crept closer quietly, and sat down on the edge of the bed, the way he had seen Mrs. Higarashi do when she was tucking Souta into bed one night. Kagome's shoulders tensed, but she didn't move, didn't even look up. Didn't say a word.

"Kagome?" He swallowed and put a careful hand on her shoulder. "Kagome, it's me."

Silence. Outside, a few cars drove by on the street below. A bird cawed.

"Listen...I know you're upset," he said awkwardly. He didn't have the faintest idea how to do this. "And I'm sorry, but I really think—"

"Go away, Inuyasha," she ordered in a low voice that was so unlike the sweet one she usually spoke to him with that he nearly winced. Inuyasha was astonished, and slightly wounded. He reminded himself that she wasn't thinking straight.

"Kagome, I—"

"Go away. I _don't_ want to talk to you right now."

"Just listen for a minute—"

"Go home."

"You're not thinking straight—"

"Go away—"

"Kagome—"

"LEAVE ME _ALONE_!" she snapped, and Inuyasha's mouth shut as quickly as it had been preparing a reply. A comeback formed on his tongue but he swallowed it, instead reaching a pitying hand towards her. She smacked it away halfheartedly. "I don't need...your sympathy," she spat, with what was an attempt at spite in her voice. Inuyasha could see that she was weary and ill. He put a hand on her forehead.

"You're burning up," he told her softly, reaching for her again. She pushed his hand away, but this time the motion was feebler. More desperate.

"Just—just go away," she gasped, backing away from him. Inuyasha sat still in his spot, and uncertainty flashed through his eyes. For a brief moment he even looked afraid. Kagome was tired, but she forced herself to be angry. He shouldn't be here. He shouldn't see her like this... She opened her mouth to yell at him again, but before she could say a word, Inuyasha pulled her to him tightly.

"Hush," he ordered firmly. "Don't say anything. I'm not leaving, get over it."

Weakly, she struggled, and tried to push him away, but Inuyasha held tight. "Let...let go of me," she sobbed, pushing against him with all her strength, but he refused to budge. His expression was warm and pitying as she thrashed, twisted, all but bit him to try to escape, and didn't change at all when she struck him in the side.

"If it makes you feel better," he said softly, and sat still while she attacked. It didn't really hurt much at all—she was exhausted, and sick, and too upset to do much damage. When at last she gave up and resigned to sit bolt upright, panting, in his lap, he reached up and gently pushed her against his chest, calmly picking up a blanket to cover her with as though nothing had happened. He didn't mention it once as he leaned against the wall and held her quietly, waiting and saying nothing.

"I-Inuyasha," she panted. Her breathing was labored. Inuyasha noticed, and looked concerned. "You—you just—it's—I'm so—" The panting turned to coughing then—harsh, unforgiving gasps that attacked on and on and wouldn't stop. He'd never heard such a sound before, and it scared him to death. He distinctly felt a warm liquid splash his collar, and recognized the salty scent.

"Easy," he said weakly, an attempt at calming the horrible choking. "Gods, Kagome, what did you do to yourself?"

"H-huh?" she rasped faintly.

"Your mother says you haven't eaten anything in days, and you look like you haven't slept either. You can't keep this up. You're going to get sick again." She was quiet at that, probably because she knew it was true. back with me?"

"I can't," Kagome whispered dizzily. "Souta—mom—"

"They'll be all right," he assured. "But they're worried sick about you. The open air will be good for you, and you need to get out of this house," he said firmly. "I can't let you stay here." Kagome was silent, and Inuyasha was sure she was going to argue again, hit him again, and that he was going to have to carry her out kicking and screaming. He prepared himself for the worst, but was not prepared for what came.

Kagome looked up at him with tearful, misty eyes, and whispered. "Okay."

Inuyasha was enormously relieved. It would be a huge load off of his mind and conscience to have her close, and to feel that she was safe—and he really did believe it would be good for her. He gave her a rare smile. "We'll leave in the morning," he said, and walked to sit across the room. He leaned against the wall with Tetsusaiga in his lap, and looked at her with keen eyes that could see even in the dark. "So get some sleep. If you don't, I'll know." She nodded and yawned, turning over and ultimately accepting his order.

"Fine...good...good night, In...Inuy...Inuyash..." She yawned once more, blinking and gave up, mumbling, "J-just...good night."

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Hello, my wonderful, lovable, marvelous readers! Yes, I know, there's angst...and there WILL BE, so I warn you now before you kill me. Now SANJI has a right to sue you if you murder me! ::Smiles brightly::

Sanji: ::Blinkblink:: Why me?

Tailz: Duh, silly, I can't sue anyone if I'm dead!

Sanji: ......

Tailz: Anyway, I've written this chapter with special regards to Moogle, for always leaving me wonderful, helpful LONG reviews that I look forward to every chapter, and to Mari-chan, whose birthday is August 16! (So if you don't e-mail her and wish her happy birthday, I'll come after you!!) Anyway...

Sanji: ::Looks disturbed at the mention of Moogle, remembering her comment of "having fun" with him:: O.O

Tailz: ::Giggle:: Sorry the chapter's sorta short...I'm trying to make longer. See ya in a bit!


	4. Merry Christmas, Chiyo

Sanji: SANOSA! WHADDYA MEAN YOU CAN'T TELL IF I'M A BOY OR A GIRL!?!?!!?!!?!?!

Tailz: Well Sanj, s/he probably hasn't read A Glance Ahead....if s/he had, s/he would know that you are Inu-chan and Kagome's only son....

Sanji: HOW COULD YOU THINK I WAS A GIRL?!?!

Tailz: Well, if you ARE a girl, you're an awfully cute lezzy. =3 ::Smooches::

Sanji: ::Looks at Tailz like she's possessed::

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Bye, momma!"

"Good bye, Souta! Have a good day!"

"Okay!"

Kagome was awakened by the typical morning goodbyes. She distinctly heard the coffee maker bubbling in the kitchen and Buyo begging for some kitty-chow in the kitchen. Something was frying, too—she could hear the grease popping, and the pans clinking as her mother stirred something. She searched the room. Bright morning light was peaking through the windows, slightly diluted by the drapes hanging over it. Her schoolbooks were strewn over her desk—someone had apparently brought over her school work, either the night before or early in the morning. Yup, everything looked normal.

Everything but the one thing that made her search of the room pause. Everything but the thing that made a smile come to her lips, even though she wasn't really awake enough to smile yet.

Inuyasha.

He wasn't sleeping, of course. He was looking through the crack in the windows, transfixed, but his eyes stared past the window, past the tree outside, past the little robin that was chirping at him. His deep amber eyes were clouded over with thought, and his expression was serious. Silvery strands of hair blew about slightly because of the air conditioner and glinted in the sunlight, making him look almost angelic. His expression was so still, and with Tetsusaiga still lying across his lap, he could almost have passed as a marble statue.

A very handsome marble statue.

Kagome shook her head to rid herself of the thought before it progressed.

Inuyasha looked up in surprise at the movement, and for a moment his face remained blank, as though he didn't recognize what he was seeing. She smiled hesitantly, wondering, and suddenly the spell was broken and he was at the bedside, looking her searchingly in the face as of he could see the future written there.

Kagome fought the urge to back up a bit, slightly uncomfortable beneath his penetrating, fiery gaze. "Wh-what?" she asked in a somewhat squeaky tone.

A small smirk creased his face as abruptly as he had crossed the room. "You look better," he said decidedly, and something like relief glistened in his eyes. "Great. We'll leave soon." Kagome blinked. Oh, of course. Back to the feudal era. Back to jewel hunting. It was her job, her primary reason for existence—or so Inuyasha had said, once upon a time. She gave him a cold glare and muttered angrily, sitting up with her feet over the side of the bed.

"Fine," she said. "But get out."

Inuyasha looked confused. "What?"

"Get out so I can change," she said impatiently, pointing at the door.

"What's wrong with what you have on?" Inuyasha asked in that infuriating way of his, being stupid as usual. Idiot.

"They're PJ's," Kagome said, quickly losing what was left of her tolerance.

"So? We don't have time for this," Inuyasha insisted. "We've been tied up with you for a whole month! We're leavi—"

Presumably, Inuyasha was about to say "We're leaving." Of course he was. It was only in his nature to be insensitive, and it was his character to be concerned and cute one minute, and then a jerk again the next. While it's pretty easy to guess what the hanyou was going to say, no one will ever really know, because what followed next blew all thoughts of doing anything but cursing out of his mind.

She said the s-word.

"SIT!"

Mrs. Higarashi paused in kissing her son on the forehead and looked up towards Kagome's window. Souta looked up as well and smiled. "They really missed each other," he said brightly, as though slamming a friend's face into the ground was proof of that.

"I know," his mother sighed, "but they're going to ruin the carpet." She kissed Souta goodbye one last time and sent him off to school, walking back into the house to do some damage control. She stepped into the foyer and glanced down the hall with all the bed rooms. What she saw was a ruffled, disgruntled looking Inuyasha twitching, facedown outside Kagome's closed (and probably locked) door, where he had obviously been kicked to his current position. The half-demon was cursing colorfully into the linoleum hallway, angrily trying to pry his face from the floor as the spell wore off.

"Breakfast will be ready in a minute, Inuyasha," Mrs. Higarashi said with a smile as he managed to shakily stand up, looking murderously at the door as if he planned to break it down.

----------------------------------------------------

Ten minutes later found two very disgruntled looking teenagers sitting at the table across from each other, firmly looking anywhere but at the other. Mrs. Higarashi was serving an omelet cheerfully to each of them, smiling and saying that Kagome looked nice, even though she was just wearing her usual school uniform, and that she was glad Inuyasha could've come to visit, even though he hadn't stopped scowling since she'd heard the huge crashing noises.

Both of them ate their breakfast in silence, and Inuyasha didn't say anything else about leaving for the entire time. They had obviously come to some sort of agreement, because as soon as they were finished, Kagome went to fetch her huge backpack. She kissed her mother goodbye, and Inuyasha even mumbled a thank you before stomping off towards his time period. Kagome glared, irritated, at the door he had left open, and muttered something as well, heading after them.

Mrs. Higarashi watched and smiled, picking up the plates and thinking back to a time, long ago, when two other teenagers had behaved in quite the same way. Later, those two teenagers had come to their senses and mustered the courage to confess their feelings, and even have a wonderful family of their own.... She smiled wistfully, glancing out the window as she washed the breakfast dishes, and stared at the God Tree standing majestically outside. It sparked so many memories, but the most memorable had been back many more years than she cared to think about.

--------------------------------------------------------------

It was the first truly winter day of the year. A cold wind blew about the Higarashi shrine, ruffling the naked branches of the giant 'God Tree.' People walked along the street, smiling and laughing. Christmas cheer was in the air everywhere. The shops were decorated with holly and ornaments, and happy little signs covered with elves that said "MERRY CHRISTMAS" in bright red and green letters. Christmas shoppers flocked to the malls to buy presents and gift wraps and tinsel in preparation for the grand holiday.

The God Tree oversaw all of this. It watched austerely as the people rushed about, never moving, never changing. It had remained the same for hundreds and hundreds of years—at least, that's what Higarashi Sr., the shrine's wrinkled old guardian, told everyone that stood still long enough to listen. The old man was usually out sweeping, but today, for once, he had retired inside to read the newspaper and brood about things no one else knew about, sipping hot tea beside the fire.

But _someone_ had to sweep the dead leaves from the marble shrine. So, who else besides Higarashi Sr.'s grandson?

Satoru mumbled irritably under his breath, pushing the dark hair from his eyes as he swept the marble courtyard. His curses were lost in the foggy cloud of mist that rose from his mouth, and were partly muffled the scarf a certain someone had forced upon him against his will. The scarf was red, his sweetheart's favorite color, and was hand knitted, as well, and very warm—nonetheless, he had put up a huge fight when she had tried to force him to wear it. He insisted that it wasn't that cold, but she had wanted him to wear a heavy down jacket, a scarf, _and _earmuffs. He hadn't wanted any of it—but she had won.

She _always_ won.

"Oh, c'mon, Sato," said a warm female voice playfully. "Don't look so cross! Your face might freeze like that, you know."

"Shaddup, Chiyo," he mumbled, throwing her a disdainful glare. "It's your fault I got into this."

"My fault?" She asked, blinking with wide, chocolate-brown eyes of open innocence. "What did I do?"

"You're the one who wanted to come back to the shrine."

"But it's so cozy," she protested, puppy-facing him. Satoru looked away, blushing. She _always _won when she puppy-faced, and he couldn't keep his resolve if he got the full blast of it—so he wouldn't look.

"Look, you know Gramps is always trying to catch someone these days," he said vehemently. "He's bored, so he pounces on anyone stupid enough to stand still!"

"He's just lonely," Chiyo defended, putting her hands on her hips. "He wouldn't be so lonely if you spent some time with him, Sato." He muttered again and kept sweeping, determinedly avoiding her eyes by watching the room's mussed head. "Hey, you," she said, jumping up from the front steps. "Stop being a jerk for a second, would you? It's almost Christmas!" She smiled and opened her arms wide to heavens and spun in circles.

Sato looked at her like she was possessed. "Yeah, I know it's Christmas," he said, shaking his head. "I know, believe me."

"Then why're you so glum?" Chiyo gushed, smiling at the white sky as she spun. "C'mon, Sato, spin with me!"

"No!" He exclaimed, looking as if she'd just ordered him to strip and dance around in the road waving a neon banner.

"Awwww, c'mon," the young woman begged. "Pleeeeaaaseee?" She looked like a six year old, spinning about in circles, her shoulder-length dark hair quickly coming from its loose pony tail, her eyes dancing dizzily as she laughed. Sato smiled in spite of himself and set the broom down, suddenly not feeling so grumpy. He could never manage to be grouchy around her. She was the essence of cheerfulness and liveliness.

"All right, stop spinning before you hurt yourself," he said smilingly. "Come on."

She stopped—or tried to stop, anyway. What she managed was a drunken sort of of staggering, and to collapse, laughing hysterically, into Sato's arms. He staggered under the sudden weight and lost his footing on the smooth marble, sending the both of them sprawling. He spread out his arms to catch her, and took the brunt of the fall onto the stiff rock with an "Oof."

"Oh...oh my goodness," Chiyo panted, looking down at Satoru. "You okay, Sato?"

"Fine, you please got off of me?" Chiyo looked down and blushed, realizing the awkward position, and quickly backed off, sitting on her knees beside her boyfriend and blushing wrathfully. Sato looked amused, and was smirking largely as he sat up. "Sheesh, Chi-chan. You ever consider wrestling?"

"Wrestling?" Chiyo echoed blankly. "Why?"

"Ah...never mind." He gave her a smile, and she smiled back, with that open smile of blatant cheerfulness. She was always so happy and carefree... being in her presence was more than enough to lift even the darkest of Sato's moods. He smiled some more, and then laughed, standing up. He grabbed her hand. "C'mon, Chiyo-chan."

"Huh?" She asked, following as he tugged. "Wh-where are we going?"

"I'll show you," Sato said with a mysterious grin, and Chiyo was curious.

He pulled her along at a pretty steady pace across the courtyard, around the house, to the back. She could see the long staircase and the archway that marked the public entrance to the shrine. She could see the back door and the stoop, and smoke coming from the chimney. Gramps had lit a fire.

Eventually, they stopped, and Chiyo found herself staring up at a very tall tree.

"The...the God Tree," she said, puzzled. What was so special about that? She had seen the old tree a million times.

"Yeah, the God Tree," Sato said quietly. "Come on." He sat down on the roots and motioned for her to come too, smiling still. Chiyo obeyed, noticing the slight nervousness to his smile. What was with him? She set down beside him, looking in his dark eyes curiously.

She waited.

Sato seemed to be grouping for the right words. His lips fluttered, and a few times he made a sound like "uh" or "um" and acted like he wanted to say something, but always lost his nerve before he actually said anything intelligible. Chiyo was fascinated. He was never this nervous or jittery, and he kept fidgeting and kneading his hands. He was avoiding her eyes.

But not for long.

Chiyo reached over and put hands on his face, gently pulling it up to her eye level. "Hey," she said with a giggle. "Don't be so nervous, okay? Whatever it is, I'm sure I'll love it." She smiled in satisfaction when Sato suddenly paled.

"But—but—how did you—?"

"I'm a girl," she said confidently. "I know these things." She gave him a charming smile and Satoru gulped, aware that his heart was pounding a million miles an hour. How could he be this tense, talking to a girl—to Chiyo, no less? He was never tense.

'All right, Sato,' he told himself, turning to Chiyo resolutely, 'suck it up.' She gave him reassuring smile, and he took the moment to take manual control of his jittery hand, and plunged it into his pocket before he lost the nerve, pulling out a small package. It was obviously a jewelry box—small. She couldn't tell exactly how big it was because Sato had wrapped it himself, and it was rather sloppy.

He handed the box to her. Chiyo blinked. "What's in it?" she asked, looking like a three year old again.

"Open it and find out, silly," Sato said with a weak smile.

"But Sato...Christmas isn't for two weeks, and I don't have your present with me—"

"It doesn't matter," Sato said quietly. "Just...just go ahead."

"Well...all right..." She looked naively at the package, before slowly slipping one of her slender, graceful fingers into the wrapping. She pulled the paper away, and found herself holding a fuzzy blue box. A ring box. She smiled. It WAS jewelry. She knew it. She held onto the top of the box, and pulled open the lid with a tiny POP.

There was a ring there. It was a thin silver band with a beautiful diamond atop that glinted cheerfully in the sunlight. It was beautiful, but....too beautiful for just an ordinary Christmas present. Satoru was by no means a rich man, only barely out of college. It would've been more than a scrape for him....she glanced at him with a smile. "It's lovely," she said hesitantly, "but Sato, you really shouldn't've spent so much on me..."

Sato smiled. "I...I had to, Chiyo."

She looked confused. "You had to?"

"Yes...I...well...." He closed his eyes and swallowed, and seemed to be gathering courage. Chiyo waited. For a reason she couldn't quite place, her heart was pounding madly. Sato opened his eyes, and Chiyo realized she had been holding her breath. "Chiyo, I....."

"You....what?" she asked softly, her voice but a whisper.

"Chiyo, will you....will you marry me?"

Silence filled the courtyard. Even the breeze in the branches of the God Tree held still. Chiyo stared at him with wide chocolate eyes, seemingly disbelieving, and sparkling with something he couldn't name. Sato felt his heart sink. "It's okay if you don't want to," he said. "It was a bad time, wasn't it? I should've wai—" he never got to finish his hurried apology, because a very warm, very soft pair of lips silenced him in mid-sentence. They held the kiss for a full minute and a half, and when they finally broke away, both were panting.

"So...I guess that's a..." Sato began, panting. Chiyo smiled, and looked about to burst with happiness.

"Yes! Of course I'll marry you!" She exclaimed breathlessly, and they kissed again, beneath the God Tree's solemn branches. Somehow, in the middle of being kissed more passionately than ever in his life, Sato managed to open the little box with fumbling fingers and slip the little ring onto his fiancé's finger.

-------------------------------------------------

Mrs. Higarashi smiled faintly, putting the now-clean dishes away. Inuyasha and Kagome's arguing had faded, finally, but she knew they would be back eventually. She pulled her gaze from the tree outside and glanced contentedly at the small silver ring with the cheerful diamond.

'I miss you, Sato,' she thought lovingly. 'Watch over them for me, while they're gone.'

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Tailz: ::Cries hysterically into Sanji's shoulder:: I'M GONNA MISS YOU GUYS!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Sanji: ::Looks sad:: Yeah...so will I...

Tailz: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! I'm gonna be so slow updating.... ::Sniffles:: check out my profile...it'll...it'll ex...expl...explain....WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!

Sanji: ::Patpat:: S'ok, Tailz....we're not going away, we're just...

Tailz: ONLY ALLOWED ONE HOUR ON THE COMPY A DAY!! How am I gonna update?!?!!?! ::Sobs::

Sanji: :'( Happy birthday to Yuni, whose birthday is August 20th. Email her and tell her happy birthday....see you guys when we can....

Tailz: ::Sobs:: I'll miss you guyssssssss!!!

Sanji: ::Smiles:: Don't worry. I'll watch her. Make sure she doesn't walk out in front of a car again. ::Wink::


	5. Sakura Snow

Shippo scurried about in the field of wildflowers, giggling. "C'mon, Kagome! Run faster!" He laughed and she gave him a smile. It had been a long time since he had been able to frolic like this—the battles, the shard hunting and, most recently, worrying over Kagome had taken up most of the kit's free time. He was a child, Kagome reminded herself. He was child that was never allowed to play; no WONDER he was always instigating with Inuyasha. He had to be bored stiff.

'Poor Shippo,' Kagome thought pityingly, smiling still more brightly as the kit looked concernedly at her.

"What's wrong, Kagome?"

Two days had passed since their return to the Feudal Era. The bickering between one Inuyasha and Kagome had long since died out. For the first day he had pouted, and given her sullen looks, but she was used to that anyway. It was all a part of his after-sit tantrums. He was a lot like a three-year-old, she thought. But still she had treated him like a seventeen-year-old, for the age that he was, telling him she was sorry. "Can't we just put it behind us?" she had asked feebly.

The only reply had been a surly, "Keh." But apparently, he had taken her words to heart, because he hadn't said a single rude thing to her since.

Actually, he hadn't said a single word period.

But oh well. She had more to think about than a temperamental half-demon's grudge.

"Kagome?" She glanced down, finding a pair of big green eyes staring at her.

"What is it, Shippo?"

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"Huh?"

"You look tired," he said in a small voice. "You...you don't feel sick again, do you?" Tears sparkled in the youthful jade orbs.

"Oh, no! Of course not!" She gave him the brightest smile she could muster. "I'm fine, Shippo-chan, don't worry." She tousled his bright orange hair and took his small hand, pulling him along the field. They walked for a while like that, hand in hand, both silent. Shippo wasn't stupid. He could see that she was lying.

"Let's rest here, Kagome," Shippo said at last, pulling her hand until she sat down. They had stopped right beneath a large, poison-green-leafed tree. The shade felt nice, Kagome thought pleasantly, sitting against the rough trunk. The tree was blooming, as was everything else in the forest—there were wonderful variations of wildflowers all around, most of which she couldn't name, either because they were already extinct in her time or were simply too wild to grow in such an urban area as where she lived. The colors all began to blend together after a while, and so every direction she glanced in, she found a splotchy rainbow looking back. The sky was a brilliant cerulean, too, and with the hot, white-hot sun, it was almost too bright to see.

"It's a beautiful day, isn't it," Kagome sighed happily. She WAS feeling a little tired... it was so warm and comfortable... She yawned, then stretched, and glanced at Shippo, who was watching her fearfully. "Don't worry," she said hastily. "I'm just a little sleepy, that's all. I didn't sleep well last night."

That's not true, a voice in her head protested. You've never slept better than last night, knowing that Inuyasha was watching you, just a few feet away....

She pushed the voice to the back of her mind and told it to hush. It was to be expected that she'd be tired—she hadn't slept well the whole time she'd been home, and the days directly after her grandfather's death she hadn't slept at all. Not to mention it took a lot out of her to be recovering... She had every right to be tired, and there was no reason to worry. No reason....

"Hey," Kagome said. "D'you wanna go for a walk in the forest, Shippo?"

"In the forest?" The kitsune looked uneasy. "How come?"

"I dunno," Kagome said dreamily. "It's just pretty, with all the Sakura blooming, and all the flowers...it might be nice to have a change of scenery," she added. "What do you say?"

"Oh...I don't know...." Shippo looked pensive, and Kagome wondered. Secretly, he was remembering the talk Inuyasha had had with him before they'd left.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

_"Do me a favor, Shippo....Watch out for Kagome while you're away. Watch her carefully."_

_"Why?"_

_"I can't always be there...and she'd get mad at me if she thought I was trying to spy. Just...watch out for any odd behavior. If anything happens, anything at all, you have to come tell me."_

_"Okay, Inuyasha..."_

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"Please, Shippo?" Kagome felt like the child, not the person watching the child. "We'll stay close, nothing will happen."

"Kagome...." He bit his lip. He was only a child! Why did he have to feel so responsible?!

"Inuyasha will hear us if we get into trouble," Kagome said exasperatedly. "We can call him. It'll be fine." Shippo waited a moment, silent, and looked thoughtful, staring at a spot on the ground as if to burn a hole in it. Kagome watched him, biting her lip as well, knowing that if he didn't come, she couldn't go either—he would go back to camp, and then Inuyasha would come to find her, or send someone. He hadn't left her alone, since their return—though he hadn't walked everywhere with her, he had obviously talked the others into doing so; Sango had followed her on her trip to the herb field, Miroku had gone with her to retrieve water for Kaede, and Shippo had gone with her into the meadow.

And she was almost sure Inuyasha had been tailing her as well, though secretly—once or twice, out of the corner of her eye, she could've sworn she saw a flash of red.

But she let him go on thinking he had fooled her. Why shouldn't she? If it gave him comfort, she thought, then let him do as he wished. Truth be told, she didn't entirely mind the idea of him being concerned...even though it felt sort of like being stalked. The image of him sitting in a tree above the hot springs taking pictures entered her mind, and she gasped, putting a hand to her mouth in self disgust. Of _course _he wouldn't do that! Never!

...He didn't know how to work a camera.

"Well...okay," Shippo said in defeat. "But only for a while, okay? I'm...hungry," he invented cleverly, blinking in the innocent way that would fool most people, hands down.

"Okay," Kagome said obediently. "It's settled, then. C'mon." She smiled again and took his hand, leading him down the path that she knew was the quickest. The sun shone down warmly on their backs, and a soft breeze seemed to push them forward.

They found the forest without much trouble. (Hanging around the same place for a couple of weeks at a time can do that to a person.) Shippo glanced at Kagome as she watched the twirling Sakura blossoms, falling serenely like so much pink snow, and felt he had made the right choice after all. She seemed genuinely happy; she hadn't been really happy in a while...she'd seemed so stressed, those days right before she'd left them...

'I knew something was wrong,' Shippo thought sadly, 'and I couldn't stop it....'

He _had_ known. He had told Inuysaha of his suspicions long before she had left, and still, no one had done anything to stop her. Miroku and Sango had even _known_ that she was planning to run, and they hadn't stopped her! They had felt they were doing the best thing for every one, respecting her wishes, but really....

Shippo felt sure that if Inuyasha had confronted her, she wouldn't have run. If someone had insisted that she stay, she would've.

If _he _had insisted, she would've.

They had almost lost her then. He had almost lost the one person that had become like a mother to him, and, in turn, had almost lost Inuyasha as well—everyone had felt the same intuition Shippo had, that as soon as Kagome was gone, the hanyou would be different, changed permanently.

She had changed him in the first place with her presence, and the lack of it was sure to have changed him back. Inuyasha must've noticed, too, how he was teetering over the edge, how close he had come to becoming the heartless being he had been before—the distrustful, lonely, angry hanyou that Kikyou had known. It was good that he was all right. It was good that they were _both_ all right.

Shippo looked pensively ahead, through the fine curtain of pink petals, and frowned, a look that made him look more pouty than thoughtful. Everyone would've changed, come to think of it, if she had really died. Sango would've been so sad...and, because of that, Miroku would've been sad....

And Shippo...Shippo would've been simply devastated. He couldn't imagine not having her around, to watch after him, to defend him when Inuyasha teased, to kiss him and read him bedtime stories. Sango was a nice lady, of course, and she had really tried to take over that role while Kagome was sick, but...Sango was a friend, not a mother figure. He couldn't picture her as a mother figure...to him, anyway. Kagome would always be the only mother-figure, and the only thing that could've possibly been as comfortable would've been having his own mother back again.

Yes...so much counted on that one girl's existence. Shippo wondered vaguely if she knew how much she had affected all their lives... she had brought them together, giving some of them a family for the first time, and the others a renewed sense of the thing.

Shippo glanced up, smiling, to tell her a little of what he had been thinking, but as soon as he met her eyes, the smile left his face.

Something was wrong.

Her face was suddenly very pale, and she looked strained, even in pain. Shippo's eyes widened and his heart began to pound wrathfully. "K-Kagome," he stuttered fearfully, "Kagome, you don't look so good. Come on, let's g-get back to—"

She gave him a hopeless stare, and crumpled to the ground.

"KAGOME!" Shippo rushed to her, panicking, and shook her shoulders, pulled on her hand, anything he could think of. "Kagome! Kagome! Please say something!" His heart was thudding so loudly he could barely hear anything, and one thought resounded in his head over and over, getting louder with every passing moment:

'Your let this happen! You let her come out here!'

"Inuyasha!" Shippo squealed. "Miroku! Sango! Kirara!" He put his hands to his mouth and trembled, not sure what to do. No one was coming at his shouts. No one heard him.

What was he going to do?

He had just decided to carry her, and had transformed into the little horse-type form when the still figure stirred, and Kagome lifted her head. Shippo reverted to his usual kitsune form and in a split second was holding onto her, sobbing, as she struggled to sit back up.

"It's okay, Shippo," she mumbled, sounding sort of sleepy. "I'm all right..."

"I was so worried!" the little child wailed, clutching her shirt desperately with both hands. "I thought—I thought—"

"I'm sorry, Shippo," she said quietly. "I didn't mean to scare you. I'm okay, really. I just tripped." Shippo knew it was a lie—she hadn't _just tripped_. She had—well, he didn't know WHAT she'd done, but she hadn't "just tripped." Still, he sniffled and nodded, looking at her trustfully. He was just glad she was okay.

"Okay..."

"But Shippo," she said, suddenly serious, "you have to promise me something."

"What?" Shippo asked, wiping his eyes on his sleeves.

"You can't tell Inuyasha about this, okay?"

Shippo froze.

--------------------------------------------------

_"I can't always be there...and she'd get mad at me if she thought I was trying to spy. Just...watch out for any odd behavior. If anything happens, anything at all, you have to come tell me."_

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"Shippo? You can't," Kagome said desperately. "He'd be so worried, and I'm okay. It was just a one time thing. _Please_ don't tell him. It won't happen again. Please."

"Oh..." Shippo bit his lip, the conflicting promises ricocheting off of his conscience in turn.

"Please, Shippo. Promise me." Her eyes were so serious...it really meant a lot to her....

Shippo swallowed, closing his eyes and nodding, trying to force Inuyasha's voice out of his head.

"Okay, Kagome. I...I promise."

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Tailz: Well, guys...I've calmed down a bit, and gotten over it...and I **AM **updating, see? Please forgive my earlier out burst....

Sanji: ::Smiles:: Look, Tailz! We've got 65 reviews already!

Tailz: Yaaaay! ::Throws confetti:: Well, see yah next time people!

Ja!


	6. Tomorrow!

_The light was bright. It was so bright it was almost too much to look at it, but look at it she did—she stared, enthralled, at what would seem to be a brighter orb of pure, white light than any star that had ever been known, brighter than any sun. There didn't seem to be a shaft of it, or a beam or direction—it just WAS, it existed, it filled the entire expanse with its glory and pride and majesty. Normally, one might wonder what it was, but the thought didn't cross her mind...she was too enthralled, too joyous, too amazed to wonder. She just edged closer, as close as she dared, to be near it, to feel the incredible warmth it radiated, to enjoy the marvelous happy feeling that struck her soul when she glanced at it...._

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"Kagome-chan? Wake up."

The voice was softly insistent as she rolled over and pulled the sleeping bag over her head. She had only just gotten to sleep...that bizarre pounding in her head had only just lightened its blows enough for her to close her eyes and rest...she didn't want to leave the warm cocoon...

"Come on, Kagome, you're going to miss breakfast." Sango gently shook her shoulder one more time, persistently, and Kagome sighed, sitting up, resolving to just obey. She yawned, and pushed herself from the sleeping bag, mumbling, "I'm up, I'm up," as she stood. She stretched her hands towards the ceiling and yawned again, closing her eyes and willing the light from outside to stop being so blinding.

"Morning, Sango-chan," she said drowsily, blinking repeatedly against the sunlight. "Sleep well?"

"I did, Kagome-chan, but did you? You look tire—"

"It's nothing," Kagome said hastily. "I just...didn't want to go to sleep last night. You know how it is...I'm just so happy to be back," she invented. "I really did miss you guys."

"Well...all right," Sango said doubtfully. "Everyone's waiting for us at Kaede's before they start eating...so, naturally, Inuyasha's almost finished off the meal." They both laughed at that, and set off together, walking perfectly in-stride without trying to as girlfriends often can. It was another lovely day, as lovely as the days before. Shippo would probably want to go play again—or maybe, Kagome thought, he wouldn't. 'At least, not with me...' She bit her lip guiltily, staring at the puffy clouds overhead. Shippo had kept his promise to her, not saying anything, but Kagome could see that he was worried, and he felt bad about not being honest when Miroku had inquired, good-naturedly, over how the trip had gone.

'I didn't mean to put him in an awkward position...I know how hard it is for him...but I can't let Inuyasha find out...' He'd just get worried, and then testy, because worrying made him testy. They'd be stuck in the village for possibly yet another month, and nothing would get done, which would make him even _testier_. And that was the last thing Kagome wanted to happen, after causing them to wait, without a shard hunter, for a month and a half's worth of worrying, pain, and recovery.

She was already a nuisance, as Inuyasha took every occasion to tell her. She just wanted to sit back, spot the shards for them, and be inconspicuous. She'd even brought enough Ramen for two months, just so she could make it every night, and more storybooks than even the last time she'd come. It was least she could do to repay them.

A loud crashing sound brought Kagome to her senses. She and Sango came to a dead stop about three feet from the door of Kaede's hut, which was a good thing—about two seconds after they stopped walking, there was another crash, and the door flap flew open as Miroku ran out, followed alarmingly close by Inuyasha, who looked murderous, and was dragging Shippo, who was holding onto his pants leg and apparently had his mind set on stopping the hanyou from killing the houshi.

"Inuyasha! Sit boy," Kagome shouted almost automatically, and watched as Inuyasha plunged face-first into the dirt, Shippo squealed and let go at just the right moment, and Miroku staggered forward and stood behind Kagome and Sango, panting and looking winded.

"Kag—om—e—sama—! Ar—i—ga—tou!" Sango gave him a baffled look as he staggered forward and collapsed into her arms in a very convincing faint. She staggered and struggled to hold him up, looking alarmed until—

_**SMACK!!!**_

"YOU HENTAI!!! I SHOULD'VE KNOWN!"

_**SMACK! CRASH! POP!**_

The monk got what he deserved after all. Whatever Inuyasha had wanted to punish him for, he had been punished. Kagome turned her attention calmly to the hanyou that was pulling his face from the ground as the subduing spell began to ware off. Inuyasha, of course, appeared nothing short of livid—and the newly-smeared dirt only helped to give him a slightly deranged look.

"MIROKU! I'M GOING TO _KILL_ YOU!"

"I think Sango's got it covered," Kagome said lightly, glancing over at the monk who was still receiving a generous amount of smacking and lecturing. "What's gotten you so angry?" Inuyasha opened his mouth heatedly, as if to reply, but no sound came out. He suddenly looked rather embarrassed, with a fiery blush spreading the length of his face, and he turned away, muttering an abrupt, "Feh."

Kagome blinked, and glanced at Shippo who walked over hesitantly.

"Oh, 'morning, Shippo-chan," she greeted cheerfully as he stood at her feet. "You seem to be the only one not caught in this argument. Want some breakfast?" Shippo opened his mouth, looking eager, but Inuyasha cut him off with a snappish reply.

"You know, none of us have had a chance to eat breakfast yet," he said pointedly, "thanks to a certain over-sleeping wench!"

"Hey, you didn't have to wait on me," Kagome said, putting her hands up in defense.

"Sango made us," Inuyasha muttered sullenly, just as the demon-slayer walked over with a tame, beaten Miroku in tow.

"What was that, Inuyasha?" She asked in a tone that even Inuyasha didn't dare smart off to. He shrugged and walked back towards the hut, still muttering something that probably shouldn't have been said anyway. The others filed in and took their places around the breakfast mat, which was covered with plates of vegetables, fish, fruits, and other various foods. Kagome smiled at the wild herbs Sango put insistently on her plate, remembering how not so long ago she had believed she wouldn't live to see this harvest. She had been right—it was indeed a bountiful one. She ate the food that was on her plate happily...

But, somehow, every time she took a bite, _more _food kept appearing. She looked up in surprise to so each of her friends was holding a serving of food, watching her, waiting to put it on her plate. Kagome blinked and gave them a sheepish smile. "Erm...guys...I'm not that hungry," she said, pulling her plate away as Sango tried to put another piece of fish on it. "Really," she added as Shippo copied her friend. They all blinked back at her and put the food back, with the exception of Inuyasha, who hadn't been trying to force her to eat, but had been staring at the others as if they were mad, holding a piece of fish.

"So," Kagome said cheerfully, as if the moment before hadn't completely unnerved her, "when're we getting back to the quest? Soon, right?"

"Tomorrow," Inuyasha replied through a mouthful of fish, apparently before the others could stop him. Sango quickly added, "If you feel up to it, Kagome."

"I'm fine," Kagome said brightly. "Can't wait to get back on the open road!" The others blinked at her, and Inuyasha gave her his trademark 'you're mental' stare. She gave them her most charming smile. "I'm gonna go outside for a while. I'll be back later, okay?" Sango and Miroku exchanged quick glances.

"Er, Kagome-chan," Sango said hesitantly, "do you want me to come with you? You know, to keep you company," she added hastily, but Kagome saw the truth behind the question.

They were all still worried about her. All she had to do was convince them she was fine. It would be a synch, as long as she didn't have another episode—or, at least, as long as no one was around to SEE another episode, if something should happen again. That was the last thing she needed—to collapse in front of Inuyasha, or have some kind of fit.

So she would simply do as much alone as they would let her.

"No, Sango, it's okay. I just want some time to myself."

The demon-exterminator fell silent. Miroku sipped his tea.

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Inuyasha stared at the moon and the stars. They shone so brightly against the blackish-blue of the midnight sky that they almost looked like flecks of nothingness that were accidentally showing through. A warm spring wind wafted through the trees, rustling the leaves pleasantly, and making his hair sway and tickle his face. Inuyasha pushed it away absently, staring at the big circle-fraction that had mounted itself in the sky. His amber eyes were focused fixedly on it, but really they stared past, into something no one else could hope to see.

'Well, we'll be off on our adventures again soon,' he thought glumly to himself. It was exactly what he would've wanted a few weeks ago, but now he wasn't so sure. Something was off. Something wasn't right. He could feel a slight drift of unease, of uncertainty, of secrecy, and he didn't like it—most of all, he didn't like the fact that he couldn't put his finger on where it was originating.

Something was about to happen. He could feel it. He didn't know what, but the winds of fate were shifting all around them, and they carried something dangerous with them.

And it wasn't something pretty like cherry blossoms. He was sure of that much.

Suddenly, Inuyasha felt an urge to glance down. Slowly, he turned his head and glimpsed, out of the corner of his eye, a pair of sparkling green pinpricks in the distance. He was being watched. A moment later, though, the pinpricks disappeared as the silent figure scurried off, making only the slightest rustling noise as he made his way back towards the village.

"Shippo," Inuyasha muttered to himself, or perhaps to the stars.

'If you've got something to tell me, why don't you just say it? Are you afraid?'

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Tailz: Ooh, the startling conclusion! Are you interested? Have I captivated your little reader imaginations?

Sanji: You sound like one of those old radio shows.

Tailz: Ooooooh. I've always wanted to do one of those. ::Starry eyes::

Sanji: Whatever, Tailz. Tune in next chapter, everyone! Ja!


	7. A Weakness Revealed

The next morning brought with it a sense of duty. The entire company was up and moving by sunrise—even Kagome. She'd asked Shippo the night before to come wake her when he woke up—a clever ploy, she thought, that would keep Sango from worrying and Miroku from calling off the trip. They had a quick breakfast with Kaede—with no food appearing on Kagome's plate, thankfully—and were out the farmers.

Inuyasha, for the first time in literally weeks, seemed in a fairly good mood. (Or what was a good mood by his standards, anyway.) He wasn't glaring at anything or anyone, and wasn't looking ear-droop depressed, either. He was just...there. He walked along at the head of the group, as always. His hands swung loosely at his side, and he stared ahead with unfocused eyes. When was the last time she'd seen him so thoughtful? Kagome walked up beside him, looking him directly in the face.

Even in his spaced-out condition, Inuyasha noticed. He blinked once or twice, as if something had shaken him awake, and looked at her blankly for a second. Of course, after that second his regular snappy nature came rushing back and he snapped, "What are you looking at, wench?"

"Nothing, nobody," Kagome said with a forced smile, falling back a few steps to walk in time with Sango and Kirara again. "Sheesh, what's gotten into him?" she muttered under her breath. Sango and Miroku shrugged their shoulders.

"I heard that," Inuyasha called sullenly, giving them the barest hint of a glower.

"Curse your hearing, Inuyasha," Kagome laughed with a good-natured scowl, but the hanyou just glared and turned back around, not saying another word. The others took the hint and fell silent too, watching instead as Shippo and Kirara raced along the side of the path, chasing a butterfly.

"Miroku? What's wrong with Inuyasha?"

"Hm? What, Shippo?"

"What's wrong with him? He seems so weird."

A random Styrofoam ramen cup came hurtling down, hitting Shippo square in the head. They all looked up at the half-demon with scolding expressions, and Shippo whined, but Inuyasha just stared blankly back at them, his eyebrows raised innocently. "Sorry," he said sarcastically. "It slipped."

"Inuyasha," Kagome scolded, glaring at him. "What's gotten into you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He snapped. "Nothing's wrong with me. What's wrong with you people?"

The rest of the group looked at him for a moment, each with their own individual responses written on their face before, all as one, they decided to disregard his loud mouth and continue setting up camp. Inuyasha sniffed and lay back, looking a bit disappointed that no one had risen to the occasion to argue with him. It was getting much too stiff—he was willing to do almost anything to lighten the mood, to break the silence. Try as he might to ignore it, the off feeling he'd had the night before was only getting stronger. Something was coming. Something was about to happen.

But what good would telling the others do? There was basically no way they could prevent whatever it was as of the moment, as he couldn't even pinpoint what it was. Not to mention the fact that they'd be even less willing to listen to him since he'd been being a jerk all morning. He wasn't really irritated with them...but putting on that familiar façade was easier than actually letting on the fact that he was perturbed, even...dare he say it...worried.

He watched impassively as Kagome and Sango left for a bath in the hot spring. Why was there always a spring close to their camp? He was beginning to see a common denominator in the spots Miroku 'randomly' recommended. That lecher. That impossible, brainless lecher.

"Don't even think about it, houshi," Sango was saying venomously, and Miroku gave her his best innocent humble-monk expression.

"Why, me, Lady Sango? Whatever did I do to make you so mistrustful?"

"What did you do?" Sango repeated disbelievingly, and Kagome and Inuyasha stared at him with her. "What did you do? Gee, I don't know. It might have something to do with the fact that you take every opportunity to turn any situation into a lecherous one!" He was staring at her, with a glazed expression, pretending to listen...or, rather, he was staring at a part of her. Sango's face reddened as she realized what was happening and closed her eyes, swinging her hand back and delivering an almighty smack that echoed about the forest. "SEE! YOU SEE!" She shouted, smacking him again, and Kagome sighed, backing away from them and shaking her head, putting a hand to her temple. Inuyasha felt her frustration, and continued to watch, slightly interested, as Sango beat the pulp out of the defenseless houshi.

Suddenly, out of the blue, he felt the oddest sensation and glanced down, almost involuntarily. His eyes met with blurry brown ones and he woke up, watching as Kagome staggered and fell back against the tree, holding one hand to her head and trying to steady herself with the other. Before he had time to think twice about it, Inuyasha was on the ground, steadying her, watching her face carefully for changes.

"Oi, wench, what's wrong?"

The voice was faraway, morphed, as if she were underwater. She heard, indistinctly, Sango and Miroku stop arguing, and Shippo ask what was wrong. Her head was doing that weird spinny thing again, and the world was going topsy-turvy. Similarly to the day in her room, Kagome saw the random figures of her friends—Sango was running at a target, her mouth opening in a battle cry as she hurled Hiraikotsu; Miroku was holding onto his left hand as the windtunnel sucked in dirt and a bunch of little demons that seemed to come from nowhere; Inuyasha hefted Tetsusaiga above his head and unleashed the Backlash Wave at an invisible foe, and Shippo cowered, holding onto Kirara's fur as she transformed.

The broken pieces of a battle spun before her eyes—the barren battlefield, a blood-red setting sun, a crying little girl kneeling beside a lady and a man that were probably her parents. Kagome saw a broken village, set aflame, throwing sparks and the tongues of flame at the black-as-night sky, and Sango, weeping, as she held the dark form of her brother close. Miroku, grim and solemn, paced between several graves, praying. She herself staggered forward, with her arm around Kirara's neck for support, and placed flowers on the graves.

They all looked very serious, very sad. Kagome watched as her detached self collapsed to her knees before the burial mounds and cried, silent tears that shook her shoulders. Her clothes were snagged ad ragged, as were the others', but they didn't seem to notice. They were each caught up in their own visions of grief. Kagome watched, in the scene before her, as Inuyasha came and gruffly put his arms around her, comforting silently. He looked sad, too—his amber eyes dripped with sadness, with regret. Surely he hadn't done all those things?

And then that scene faded, to be replaced with a sad-looking Tsuki, who was smiling sorrowfully, as last time, and was shaking her head of silver-blue hair, watching with doleful eyes. What did Tsuki have to do with all this? Why did Kagome keep seeing her? Kagome willed the images to stop, but they didn't—they only repeated, over and over, like some strange soundless film. Each time they passed by, the images were slightly altered—it was a different village child, a different village, different graves with different flowers. And every time, Kagome and her friends looked more forlorn, wearier, sadder.

'What is all this?' Kagome wondered, watching sadly as the same scenes repeated. She wanted it to stop, but she wasn't sure how to make it; the spinning kept getting faster and faster, until the images and faces blurred together, and it was one long sequence of distorted colors and tears and sadness.

"Kagome...wake up."

Suddenly, the colors stopped and stabilized. Kagome opened her eyes slowly to the forest, to the setting sun and the foliage roof overhead. All of her friends were kneeling, circled around her. She was lying in Sango's lap, but Inuyasha's hands were still on her shoulders. She glanced at him, and he jerked them away, blushing slightly, as if he realized what they'd been doing.

"Are you all right, Kagome-chan?" Sango asked anxiously, and Miroku felt her forehead.

"I'm...okay..." she mumbled, feeling her face heat in disgrace. She hadn't meant to show them signs of weakness! All this was just after effects of the poisoning; it would go away. She had meant to hide it, to not worry them. Why, oh, WHY did she have to faint? For that was what must have happened over the course of her 'visions'.

Inuyasha watched her intently, and a fire was burning in his eyes.

This must've been what Shippo had been wanting to tell him.

He turned abruptly and stomped off, leaving the others behind, puzzled.

* * *

Tailz: Hey, everyone! Wow! Look at this—6 chapters, 100 reviews! Go us! Lol! Thank you, Moogle-chan, for all the confidence-boosting, and to everyone for reviewing for me! Love ya, guys!

Sanji: ::Flinches at the mention of Moogle::

Tailz: LOL! Um... I can explain...

B and Star: No you can't!

Tailz: ::Sweat:: Shut up...


	8. Shippo's Nightmares

_He was angry with me for hiding it. I knew it, everyone knew it. He didn't try to disguise the fact that he didn't even want to look me in the eyes. I tried so hard to apologize without words, because every time I tried to speak with him he either ignored me or left. But he ignored that, too. I fixed Ramen every night, and tried to coax him to sit with us. It was like trying to persuade a mule out of its pen. The days immediately after my incident he wouldn't even take his dinner from me—I had to get Sango or Miroku to give it to him. After that, he was at least civil enough to accept it from my hand, and three days afterwards, he even came at sat around the fire with us._

_That was something, wasn't it?_

_No. Not really._

_His silence was killing me. The terseness in his voice when he spoke to me—only when it was absolutely necessary—was unbearable. Sango and Miroku were sympathetic, and Shippo looked so guilty. I felt bad about making him lie—he has a child's conscience; I know the anger was affecting him as much as it was me, and maybe even more. Poor Shippo. I've put you through so much._

_I hate that he's mad at me, and I hate that the others are so worried. He's worried, too, though he won't show it; he watches me, at night, when he thinks I'm asleep. He never sleeps anymore. What do you dream about, you stubborn hanyou? Shippo's dreams used to be sweet—he always used to smile. Lately, though, every night he's as restless as I am. He kicks, he whimpers, and last night I'm almost positive I heard him say my name. Sango and Miroku aren't sleeping well either—Miroku woke up a few nights ago, clutching the wind tunnel, and Sango was murmuring something that sounded a lot like "Kohaku."_

_I've been having strange dreams too. They're always so sad, always so real...last night, I had a dream that we were battling Naraku, and everyone died....I was alone, and Naraku was laughing, and saying that it was my fault...and it was my fault. Everything is always my fault lately. I woke up with a gasp, but thankfully no one heard me. We've all been really restless ever since that day, and my head hurts constantly...I think it's because I haven't been sleeping or eating very much. And the fact that he's mad at me only makes everything so much worse... I feel like crying, yelling, running away...._

_But I won't. Not again._

_I just want you to know I'm sorry, Inuyasha. I should have told you._

* * *

It was awful to feel so caught in the middle. Shippo wanted to curl up in a ball and hide in Kagome's backpack like he used to—but he was too big to fit now, and probably too heavy as well. Kagome had seemed so tired lately—everyone had. Miroku hadn't pulled a single thing for days, and Sango didn't seem to notice. Inuyasha was still mad at all of them for one reason or another, but Shippo knew his fury was mostly focused on himself and on Kagome.

Kagome was really upset about how Inuyasha had been treating them—particularly Shippo. Her eyes told him how sorry she was for making him promise not to tell, and how miserable she felt about making everything so tense again. Shippo wanted to reassure her, but he wasn't sure how; he wanted to tell her everything was fine, that everything would be okay, but somehow he knew she wouldn't believe him. She wouldn't believe it until Inuyasha himself told her.

And he wouldn't. The hanyou was much too stubborn for something like that.

They'd been traveling for almost two weeks on the open road, kind of wandering. They hadn't caught a single lead, and Kagome hadn't sensed a thing for a long time. Shippo was beginning to wonder if there were even any more jewel shards out there anymore, or if Naraku had found them all and was waiting for them, setting traps. The evil half-demon was always setting traps for them, always tormenting them—he loved to make them suffer in every way possible. It should've been enough that Naraku was around in the waking world—but no. Lately, he had even been haunting Shippo's dreams.

He'd been having nightmares for a long time now. They started out pretty normal, and not so scary—he was running from someone bigger, he was captured, normal little kid dreams. But lately, they had been so much worse, so much more realistic. Most recently, he had had a dream about the final battle with Naraku.

The thought had occurred to him, of course, but he'd never dreamed about it. It had seemed so REAL. Naraku had lunged forward and tried to absorb Inuyasha, but the hanyou had moved at the lat moment, and only been injured by the tentacles. Miroku'd been knocked backwards into a tree, and Sango's Hiraikotsu had been snapped as well. Kagome was injured, somehow—Shippo recalled sitting by her side, and crying as she'd paled, and her life had drained away...

**—Flashback—**

"Don't cry, Shippo-chan..." Her voice was so weak and quiet. Shippo trembled with a quiet misery, clutching her cold fingers to his desperately. "Shh..." She tried to soothe him. "It'll be...all right..." But they both knew it was a lie.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled, blocking the tentacles furiously with Tetsusaiga. He glanced back for but a moment, but that was enough for Naraku to snatch the precious sword away and toss it. His remaining limbs sprang forward, attempting to seize the half demon again. Inuyasha leapt backwards, throwing his arms up in defense, and managed to ward the deadly arms away, escaping with only a cut on his shoulder. "Shippo, move the others!" he shouted, and Shippo swallowed his doubt.

"Put your arm around my neck, Kagome," he said quietly. "I'm going to help you up."

"Go help Sango and Miroku, Shippo-chan..."

"What? No, you first. You're in the most dange—"

"It...it's too late to help me," Kagome murmured calmly. "I'm not worth saving. Go help the others. Get them out of here." She glanced worriedly at the two prone figures across the battle field—both her friends, sprawled atop one another, lying in the position they had landed in.

"Kagome, I can't leave you." Shippo's voice held traces of the tears that were cascading down his cheeks, unnoticed. "I won't." Couldn't she see that he couldn't? Couldn't she see that he'd never be able to live with the knowledge that he'd left her behind, that he couldn't've saved her? She wouldn't die, he told himself. She would be all right..."

"Shippo." Her voice was firm. Almost angry. She never got angry at him. "Shippo, be sensible. I'm not going to make it even if you take me with you. I have to stay and help Inuyasha." They both glanced at the hanyou who was furiously fighting for his life against the two new incarnations and Naraku at once. "I have to stay." Suddenly she was whispering again, and her foggy eyes wavered. "I...I have to stay..."

"Kagome," Shippo whispered. She pulled him close and kissed his forehead.

"I love you..." Her voice held a soft abandon, but somehow sounded determined at the same. "Be quick." And with that, she pushed him away roughly and forced herself to her unsteady feet, staggering back towards the battle. Shippo froze in shock and watched with wide eyes and ragged breath as she took her place by Inuyasha's side. He looked surprised for a moment, then nodded, and jumped to the side with her as Naraku attacked again. Shippo almost followed her, almost yelled that she come back, come with him—but no...she had told him to go. Her mind was set, and even Inuyasha was forced to understand. He would have to do as she said. With a terrible pain in his heart, he turned from the scene and ran to where Miroku and Sango were sprawled.

"Guys," Shippo whimpered, shaking them. "You have to wake up! We have to get out of here—!" But they wouldn't move. Why wouldn't they wake? Shippo shook their shoulders all the more frantically, calling their names over and over—this wasn't good at all—if Inuyasha should need help, and they weren't able—he would have to do it, and Shippo wasn't sure he could defend them, if need be. "Wake up!!" He shook Miroku by his robes hysterically. They wouldn't stir.

The kitsune whipped around to call to them that he couldn't do it—to beg for help and cry for his mother-figure as always—but what he saw made all his words die on his lips. His big, childish green eyes widened as he watched the battle that had been progressing even as his back had been turned.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Naraku had somehow managed to separate Inuyasha and Kagome—Inuyasha was thrashing against the tentacles and the newest incarnation furiously, fighting with all his strength to get back to her. Kagome was sitting, on her knees, panting shallowly, and holding a hand to the wound she had received earlier, her hand red with blood. Her face was pale, but her eyes were bright. Naraku was looming over her, his face cocky with triumph—Shippo could see what was going to happen. Kagome turned to face him, and, her voice thick with pain and weariness, began chanting a spell Shippo had never heard before.

Naraku stopped just before lifting her from the ground by her neck, a look of puzzlement on his face as the laughter died in his throat. Starting at his fingers, his arm began rapidly glowing a bright pink, much the same hue as the Shikon no Tama. His looked turned to one of mixed fear and pain, and he shrieked, stumbling backwards as his body was purified slowly. Kagome smiled in triumph, even as he lunged his other arm forward and through her chest. Her smile didn't fade even as she fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!" Shippo wailed, running forward as fast as he knew how. It wasn't too late—he could still save her—he darted, avoiding the swoop of the Saimshyou wasps as they tried to distract him—and fell, tripped upon a tree root and found himself face-to-face with the dirt. He looked up again, in horror, just as Naraku struck her again, even though she had fallen, even though she was still, and more blood splashed into the air. Shippo watched, frozen in disbelief, as Naraku's form shattered once and for all. The incarnations stopped fighting with Inuyasha, and disappeared as well, without so much as a whimper.

Inuyasha's face was pure agony. He dropped the bloody Tetsusaiga and ran over to where she was lying. With arms that were shaking so hard that Shippo could see it from where he was lying, twenty feet away, he reached down and carefully lifted her head from the ground.

"He...he's g-gone, Inuyasha," Kagome's voice said weakly. "You've...av-avenged K-Kikyou. And...the Sh-Shikon's c-complete again." She held up the little round jewel, which was coated in a fine sheen of blood, and dropped it into Inuyasha's clawed hand. He looked at it, for a brief moment, and then dropped it, sweeping her into his arms. His eyes told Shippo that the jewel and Kikyou were the farthest things from his mind at the moment.

"Kagome," he said tearfully, in a voice much unlike his usual gruff one. "Y-you're on, we'll go to Kaede's, it's not too far..." He made as if to lift her, but Kagome took his hand in her pale one.

"No," she murmured softly.

"What do you mean no?" Inuyasha sounded frantic. "You have to let Kaede-baa-baa heal you!"

"No, Inuyasha...I..." She smiled bitterly. "I won't make it that far. You know that."

"No I don't," Inuyasha snapped childishly. "Don't be s-stupid. Come on, we're leaving, whether you like it or not."

"Inu—Inuyasha...please...." Her voice was so feeble, so quiet, and yet, he heeded it, stopped as if she had ordered in a loud, angry voice. His ears drooped, as did his shoulders, and Shippo could see his whole world crumbling as his resolve shattered. And he cried. Shippo cried with him, and Kagome did too—they cried together, quietly, in the mourning of losing each other to Naraku after all. They'd come so far together, learned so much, grown so close—Shippo had grown up, Inuyasha had learned to trust again, even to _love_ again...and it was all being taken from them, in a mere instant. She had survived the sickness, all the villains over the years, even Inuyasha himself, and still, at the last, Naraku had won.

_He had won._

It was too much. Kagome spluttered incoherently, and blood ran down her face in little rivulets as she tried to comfort the hanyou. Her hand, with extraordinary effort, reached up and brushed the side of his face, that feather light touch that had always soothed Shippo's tears after a nightmare, or Sango's after a particularly painful encounter with her brother. Inuyasha took her hand, and held it to his face, his eyes closed. Shippo knew that he was memorizing her scent forever as he kissed the thin fingers and they went limp.

His mother left the world with a smile still gracing her features. Inuyasha collapsed over her body, sobbing, and Shippo had to look away from the sad scene. The battlefield was so blurry because of his tears, he could barely see Miroku and Sango waking finally, trying to ready their weapons too late.

It was all over for them. They had killed him, but Naraku had won.

Shippo screamed into the failing daylight, and everything went black.

**—End Flashback—**

It had been his worse fear, realized again. Shippo sniffled back his tears, earning himself a questioning glance from Sango. Kagome was lagging behind, watching the ground, everything about her posture the perfect picture of defeat and misery. Inuyasha was sniffing, Shippo noted dismally, and suddenly Kagome's head shot up, her eyes serious.

"What is it, Lady Kagome?" Miroku asked. He had noticed it, too.

"A jewel shard," she answered seriously. "A lot of them."

Inuyasha looked back, and they muttered the name in unison: "Naraku."

Tailz: Whatta cliffy!! Are Shippo's dreams real? Is it really the final battle? Are they finally gonna catch Naraku?

Sanji: Pfft. Sure. Like you'd let the climax of the story happen at chapter 6. Yeah right, Tailz. We know you better than that.

Tailz: Well, mister smarty pants. I guess we'll just see, won't we?

Sanji: Baka. You think you're so smart.

Tailz: .... ::Whaps him::


	9. Naraku's Puppet and Inuyasha's Decision

Kagome's blood ran cold. Naraku was definitely close. No one else could possibly hold so many Shikon Shards. The beacon of their aura was strong, and just ahead, still. He wasn't running. He wasn't fleeing, or teasing them. He was waiting for them, luring them closer. Her heart pounded mercilessly as a bit of her nightmare flashed through her mind—her friends' empty, blank eyes, staring so forgivingly at her, even though it was her fault... She shuddered, and mutely climbed onto Inuyasha's back as he told her to. Kirara transformed to carry the others, and they raced forward into what, if her dreams were true, would be certain annihilation.

Could it really be the final battle? After all the searching, all the fighting, all the it really be the end? It was so hard to fathom. Had Naraku finally grown bored of leading them in circles?

"Which way?" Inuyasha muttered. Kagome felt slightly injured at his tone, but dismissed it, concentrating. "That way," she answered meekly, and Inuyasha bounded in the direction she indicated, with Kirara at his heels. Miroku and Sango's faces were set in grimness. Even Shippo looked serious. Kagome was sure Inuyasha's expression was the same, even though she couldn't see it. If this really was the end...if it really was the last battle, and if they won...what would happen? The jewel would be complete again...Kikyou would be avenged. Would that mean Inuyasha would have to go to hell with her, at long last? Would Kagome be forced to go home forever, once her services were no longer of use? Her eyes darkened, and she set them on the trail ahead, forcibly pushing the lump of sadness in her throat away.

She couldn't think of that now. She wouldn't.

"Up ahead," she warned gravely, and Inuyasha's hands tightened ever so slightly around her legs. The message was clear, even though he didn't so much as look back: Whatever happens to us now...I'm not mad at you anymore, okay? She put at hand to his head and lightly, so lightly that he was barely sure that it happened, touched his head. I understand, Inuyasha. And I am sorry. Her heart felt just the tiniest bit lighter, despite the fact that they could've been rushing headfirst into terrible danger.

Inuyasha's paced slowed, and Kirara returned to the ground. Kagome heard a light thump as the neko youkai landed on all four paws, growling menacingly. Inuyasha's shoulders were tense, Kagome noted, as they all looked up together to see something that didn't surprise any of them: Naraku. He was standing clear across the clearing, looking smug and unafraid as always. His manner was easy, his evil smile taunting. "Inuyasha," he said pleasantly, as if they were the best of friends. "Is our game of hide and seek over already?"

"Go stand with the others, Kagome," Inuyasha ordered in a low voice, dropping her knees to the ground. She backed away obediently, and stood beside Miroku and Sango as they jumped down from Kirara's back. "It's over, Naraku," Inuyasha said, the typical banter. "We've had enough of your GAMES."

"Oh?" The villain's tone was careless, but held traces of malice beneath. "Have you?" His smirk became even more evil. "Then I guess it's time to see if you've improved since last time." He glanced over his shoulder as two figures leapt out from the brush and landed nimbly at his side. Naraku turned back to them with a pleased chuckle at the looks on their faces. "May I have the pleasure," he said slowly, "of introducing you to my new...ah...children?" Both of them turned their faces upwards, sporting the pretty faces of geisha entertainers...and bright red demonic eyes. "Setsuko. Riku. Have fun."

Together, in one movement so synchronized that it was eerie, the two incarnations each plunged one of their pale hands within the folds of their matching kimonos. The one in the red kimono revealed a long, twisted staff; the one in blue pulled out a fan that looked a good bit like Kagura's. They stared silently at the Inu-tachi with their blank, sinister red eyes, as if waiting for something. Inuyasha's shoulders tensed, and his feet dug into the earth as he prepared to spring. Kagome, sensing his decision, hastened to warn him that something wasn't right—that he needed to be careful—

But it was too late. He had already leapt forward, Tetsusaiga raised in attack. Kagome barely had time to cringe. He brought the sword down with bone-crushing force, his expression fierce, right above the two demons' heads—but never struck them. At the very last moment possible, they flung themselves to the side, not making so much as a whimper as they rolled and landed in a crouching position, apparently unfazed. Inuyasha blinked in surprise for a moment before jumping up to dodge their attacks in turn.

The one in the blue kimono—Riku—had raised her fan, giving it an almighty sweep in his direction. A strange array of shockwaves narrowly missed the half demon, lodging themselves into the thick bark of a tree behind. Nothing happened for a moment, perhaps two, and then the trunk exploded into a cloud of dust where the beams had struck, leaving a clean cut. Half of the tree slid off the bottom half and toppled to the ground with a loud thud. Kagome shuddered, and Miroku and Sango looked on in shock.

"That _thing_—" Sango looked a little surprised. "That's not the usual power, is it?"

"We've got to do something," Kagome murmured. "Look at them!" for Inuyasha was trying to fight off both incarnations at once, dodging, striking, and repeating the process over and over. He couldn't keep that up forever. Sango and Miroku exchanged grim glances before nodding and rushing off to aid him.

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango yelled, throwing the demon-bone boomerang in the direction of the laughing Naraku. He easily moved to the side to avoid it, still laughing insidiously, and flung his tentacles in her direction, sending her—and Miroku, as he tried to brace her—flying backwards. The two were flung mercilessly against a tree and landed, in a crumpled pile, entangled in one another's arms. Kagome waited, holding her breath, but they didn't get back up. Her heart skipped a beat.

'Miroku! Sango! Are you—you can't be—" She ran to them, leaving her arrows behind. "Sango-chan! Miroku-sama! Are you all right?!" She knelt beside them, and hovered, faintly afraid to move them...what if something was broken? She might make it worse! Kagome bit her lip and brushed the bangs from Sango's face, praying for them to wake up and move of their own free will. They didn't.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha's cry was one of warning. Kagome looked up just in time to see a blow of energy heading right in Shippo's direction. His eyes widened in surprise and he stumbled backwards, trying to run but finding that his legs were numb—he'd never have a chance. He was going to die here, on the battlefield, against some creep that he'd never really had anything to do with—

And then, he was being thrown backwards, beneath the weight of something heavy. He felt the strength of the blast fly past on all sides, but somehow not hitting him, only ruffling his hair a little. It was white-hot with pure energy that was somehow like molten fire speeding in one fell blow, and he felt all of his nerves stand on end on instinct. When at last he collided back with the ground, and he felt safe enough at least to open his eyes, the world was still spinning. He was closer to the end of the clearing than he had been a few moments before. What had saved him? He blinked, remembering the heavy thing, and looked down, realizing that thing had not only protected him from the attack, but had softened his crashing to the ground as well.

"K-Kagome!" Her eyes were closed, and she didn't move at his voice. Shippo glanced over her body and gasped. She had taken that attack for him, the same way Inuyasha had for her all those times, and she looked none the better for it. There was a large gash at her side, and also along the length of her let arm, from the shoulder to the elbow. Her face was pale, paler than it should've been, and something warm and sticky was soaking through his fingers as he tried to rouse her.

Blood!

No! Shippo clung to her hand, which was wet with her own blood and pleaded with her to wake. She was breathing, but if they didn't move soon—

"Kagome!" Inuyasha seemed to have noticed the commotion. His eyes met Shippo's even as he batted away Naraku's tentacles, sparkling with something close to fear, and seemed to be asking, Is she—? The kitsune's expression became alarmed, and he opened his mouth to shout a warning. Inuyasha whipped back around, mentally cursing himself for getting distracted—and looked up just in time to see another throng of Naraku's tentacles lunging at him. This had happened several times before, none the least the last time he had tried to "become one" with Inuyasha, and it was not a pleasant experience.

He didn't plan for it to happen again.

He made to jump to the side, bringing Tetsusaiga up to attack—

And then, suddenly, it was snatched from his fingers and thrown off in an odd direction. Inuyasha didn't have time to be angry about losing it; he threw his arms up to keep the speeding demonic limbs from tearing him apart, and skidded backwards, trying to fight against the pure force that Naraku was exerting. He felt one something graze his shoulder, which in turn stung, but he ignored it, glancing out of the corner of his eyes at Shippo and Kagome, who seemed to have woken up. She was all right. "Shippo, move the others!" he ordered, ducking down beneath the tentacles. They flew over his head and then turned upon themselves, rushing at him at ground level, trying to snatch at him again. All the speed and agility he had came rushing back as he dodged them, one by one, flawlessly, and ran in the direction Tetsusaiga had been thrown in.

Riku and Setsuko both leapt into the air and landed before him, blocking his path to the sword. Their faces were blank of any true expression, but they both wore empty smiles. Inuyasha was hauntingly reminded of Kana. "Now, now, Halfling," they said together, in voices that were nowhere as near as pretty as their faces. The sound hurt his ears. "We're not done with you just yet."

"Oh yeah?" Inuyasha panted. "Come at me then!"

They attacked as one, raising their weapons against their unarmed foe. Riku released the same blue shockwave of energy that she had before, and this time her aim was even closer. Inuyasha felt his hair move, as if in a breeze, as he ducked and only just escaped. Closely following was an orb of red—was it fire?—that emerged from Setsuko's twisty staff. It sped right for him, such a large-spanned attack—he dodged it, feeling the heat of it pass over.

He'd managed to lock himself into a fine mess. Riku stood on one side, while her sister stood on the other, blocking Tetsusaiga with her staff still raised and smoking. He needed a distraction to keep them busy, just for a second—any kind of diversion would do, if only it could hold their attention for a moment. But how could that possibly happen? Miroku and Sango were still unmoving on one side—it was a miracle Naraku hadn't attacked them yet; Kirara was distracting Naraku for the moment, and Kagome was probably too injured to move—

"Inuyasha." A winded voice murmured somewhere near his elbow. He glanced over to see—coincidence of coincidences—Kagome, standing at his side. In both hands she held up her bow at the ready, with an arrow fitted and the quiver case with the single remaining extra arrow at her back. Inuyasha looked her over quickly. She was wounded! Her eyes burned with a dim sort of determination that told him quite plainly, I'm not going anywhere. Let me help you. He stared at her for just a fraction of a moment, and then he nodded, taking her roughly by the shoulders and shoving her to the side. Kagome looked up to see Naraku's tenticled limbs slice through the air they had been standing in a moment before.

"Go," Kagome panted quietly as the two smirking girls drew closer. "I can distract them for a second."

"Kagome—" His eyes told her that he still had doubts about leaving her unaided in the middle of the battlefield. Irritation gnawed at her heart. Now wasn't the time for doubts! She narrowed her eyes and turned back to the incarnations, firing the arrow at them.

"GO!" Inuyasha hesitated, then obeyed, leaping off in the direction of Tetsusaiga. Riku watched as if she wanted to bound after him, but glanced confusedly at her sister, who had been hit, in the side, with Kagome's arrow and was slowly being purified. "What, aren't you going to go get him?" she panted with an evil smirk all her own, fitting the last arrow to her bow.

"Evil miko witch," Riku spat, helping her sister climb to her feet and chase after Inuyasha. "You'll pay for that!" And she would, of course, for Master Naraku had a plan. She was sure of it. She and Setsuko moved after Inuyasha, their faces set. They could still beat him. He was just a pathetic Halfling.

Unfortunately for the two of them, Inuyasha had just reclaimed his sword from the tree. The rusty scabbard transformed in his hands once more, becoming the huge katana that was always at his side during such battles. He gave them a confident smirk, looking with amusement upon Setsuko's injury. Kagome's handiwork, no doubt. He would've expected no less. "All right, you," he said venomously, a merciless smile playing about his lips. "Ready to die?"

"I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you," Riku warned, a cruel amusement on her thin features. "Your time would be better spent trying to save the miko witch." Inuyasha looked at her uncomprehendingly before realizing just what she was hinting at. His eyes flew to Kagome, and his heart nearly stopped right then.

"Kagome! Look out!"

Somehow in the span of his exchanging banter with Naraku's slithery offspring, she had fallen to her knees. Her face was pale, labored, as she clutched the wound she had received earlier—her hands were covered in bright red blood that sparkled in the setting sun. Where was her arrow? He spotted the bow, lying a few feet away, useless, and then her last arrow, which had apparently missed its mark and was protruding from the bark of a tree across the clearing.

Naraku was edging forward, looking sickeningly sinister. "Get up, idiot! Run!" Inuyasha called, blocking a sweep of Setsuko's newly-englongated claws. But she didn't. she just stared at him, as if in some sort of trance. The evil half demon moved closer to her, chuckling in a low tone. "Well, well, little miko," he said softly. "Are you ready to die now?" He reached down, spreading out his fingers as his hand moved for her throat. Inuyasha, eyes wide with alarm as he fought to get past the two servants, to help her, noticed the tiniest flicker of something bright in Kagome's eyes.

'She's planning something!'

If Naraku noticed, he didn't show it. His expression remained the same as he leisurely wrapped his fingers around her throat, and began tightening it. Kagome didn't struggle. Inuyasha was pushed further back then as the attacks upon him intensified, but his ears caught the sound of Kagome's voice above the clash of claw and sword, even as he focused on getting rid of the two annoying girls. She was murmuring something. A spell? Since when did Kagome know a spell? Inuyasha listened as close as he could while dodging flying balls of molten fire, but he couldn't decipher the words. The language was foreign—or maybe she was just speaking too fast.

Whatever it was she was doing, it must have worked, because a moment later Naraku's malevolence mirth stopped altogether. Riku and Setsuko slowed, however slightly, in their fight with Inuyasha, their faces contorted in...pain? Inuyasha blinked in confusion, staring at Naraku in between the slow blows.

He was being purified, if Inuyasha had to make a guess. His right arm sported a purplish-pink glow of magic, which started at the hand that had touched Kagome's skin. He let out a fantastic shriek, stumbling backwards, clutching his arm with the normal one. It was obvious that the purification was spreading, and that it hurt a lot. His face showed a mixture of fear and surprise. Kagome, still panting, looked pained, though her lips held a smile of a watery sort of triumph. She glanced right at Inuyasha with something like apology in her eyes—

Just as Naraku's tentacle pierced right through her side.

She didn't look surprised as she fell, a weak smile still on her lips. Inuyasha would later swear that his heart had stopped in that moment. He wanted to rush to her, but his legs wouldn't move...everything seemed to have suddenly gotten very cold and dark. His eyes met with Kagome's, and he saw love written there—still more apology, a little sadness, and love. In the background, a shrill voice yelled, but Inuyasha hardly comprehended it. Naraku raised his tentacle again—his dying blow— Inuyasha knew this would be the end—he was screaming at his body to move, but, as if by some strange spell, it wouldn't. His mind was pleadingly repeatedly to any divine being that happened to be watching...

'Kami, not Kagome...please, please, not her....' He watched, helplessly struggling to move, as Naraku's limb shot forward to seek the ultimate revenge on his killers—

And then, at the very last moment, there came a little red blur. Shippo leapt over a root sticking up from the ground, dodging the attacks of Naraku's poisonous insects as they tried to sting him, and flung himself at Naraku at the last moment, exactly in time with Kirara. They managed to distract Naraku at least enough—his tentacle missed Kagome by several inches, and he gave a frustrated screech as he threw Shippo as far as he could and dropped Kirara, just as his form disappeared.

There was a small clink noise as a little wooden figurine fell from the place Naraku's head had been.

It was a puppet. Just another puppet. That one fact would irk Inuyasha to no end in the months to come, but as of the moment, he had only one thought on his mind.

Kagome.

The spell gone at last, he dropped the Tetsusaiga (as the two incarnations disappeared as well) and ran towards her. Dropping at her side, the whole world seemed to be at a deathly standstill. Nothing anywhere made a sound. The birds paused in their nests. The wind held its breath. Shippo crawled weakly from the underbrush, holding a little hand to the bloody wound Naraku's swipe had given him, but he didn't say anything either. He froze in mid-movement, watching in silence the exchange between the two of them.

"He...he's g-gone, Inuyasha," Kagome's voice murmured. "Y-You've av-avenged K-Kikyou. A-and the Sh-shikon's complete again. She dropped it into his palm meekly, looking into his face with eyes full of apology and pleading. Pleading for what? Inuyasha carefully lifted her from the ground and held her, in a semi-sitting position, against him.

"K-kagome...You're hurt. C'mon, we'll go to Kaede's, it's not too far..." the shift in his shoulders suggested that he was going to lift her and run straight to the village, but Kagome stopped him with one shaking hand.

"No," her quiet voice said.

"What do you mean no? You have to let Kaede-baa-baa heal you!"

"I-Inuyasha," she spluttered, and blood ran down her chin. "The others need help t-too. We c-can't just leave them."

"Miroku and Sango are all right," Inuyasha protested, glancing at them. "They'll wake up soon enough. No one did anything to them." He blinked, as Kagome voiced the concern that had just come to his mind.

"B-but where's Sh-shippo-chan!" They looked stricken for a moment, and glanced all around, obviously fearing the worse. Shippo swallowed and called attention to himself.

"I'm here..."

Kagome gasped, and paled another two shades if that was humanly possible. She pusheed herself up, leaning on Inuyasha and wincing terribly, and hobbled over to where Shippo was resting fifteen feet away, even though Inuyasha was trying to stop her and make her be still. She collapsed beside him and pulled him into her arms, carefully minding his wound. "Sh-shippo!" she sobbed. "Y-you're—you're—"

"I'm okay," Shippo assured, forcing his face not to show any pain.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "You got hurt because of me...again..."

"No!" Inuyasha and Shippo interjected together, both not liking the guilty tone to her voice. "It wasn't your fault," Shippo said quickly. "I'm not even seriously injured, right, Inuyasha?" Inuyasha blinked, as if surprised, before answering, "Yeah, you'll heal. It's just a scratch."

"See?" Shippo made his voice sound bright. It might've been just a scratch, but he was currently bleeding all over Kagome. She looked rather pale as she seemed to realize this herself. Her shirt was soaked with her own blood, and her sleeve dotted with his. Inuyasha was watching her tensely.

"You need to lie down," he told her gruffly. She gave him a weak, faraway look laced with pain.

"Did we really...beat Naraku?" she asked. Inuyasha swore mentally, but looked at her with calm eyes, forcing his voice to be patient. "No," he answered. "It was just a puppet. We were lucky. The real Naraku probably would've—would've—" he stopped, finding that he was unable to bring himself to day any form of or related to the word die. She had come so close—indeed, while her wound wasn't fatal, it could become so still if not treated quickly. Inuyasha cleared his throat.

"We do need to get back to the village," he said slowly, as if talking to himself instead of to them. "Kaede will help." He reached for Kagome again with open hands, but she pushed them away.

"We can't," she said again, this time more hazily. "Miroku and Sango—"

"—will be fine," he finished, losing a little of his patience. "You've got to get help quickly, and it wouldn't hurt Shippo either." He glanced at the kit.

"I won't l-leave them," she said stubbornly. Her voice was firm enough but her eyes were flickering with pain at the movements caused by arguing with him. Inuyasha bit his lip, and looked away. She wasn't going to give up, and he couldn't force her—not in this condition. Struggling wouldn't help at all. It seemed he only had one choice.

"All right," he said reluctantly. "All right. We won't leave until they wake up."

* * *

Tailz: ::Gasp:: ::Gasp::

Sanji: ..... ::Hands her a glass of water::

Tailz: ::Just ranted the socks off of no one in particular::

Sanji: .... No more ranting. Go take a nap.

Tailz: Nevvvvvverrrr!!! ::Jumps down and hides under the desk, hissing::

Sanji: .... ::Presses a button on the computer nonchalantly::

::_Dearest_ begins playing softly::

Tailz: ::KONK!:: Zzzzzz........


	10. And No one Came

Tailz: ::Glances up tearfully:: M-moogle-chan...you w-wish for me to...to...

Sanji: OO Kill Kagome?

Inuyasha and Tailz: NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Tailz: T.T How sad....Moogle dearest...begging your pardon, but you have absolutely no idea what I've got in mind...please don't be angry with poor Tailzy.

Sanji: Yeah, all of you! Put a sock in it! Every time you gripe at her for being angsty, she keeps ME up at night crying!

Tailz: ::Sobs into his shirt:: WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!! IT'S JUST MY STYLE!!! I LIKE ANGST!!!!

Sanji: Look, guys. If you don't like angst, don't read the story, okay? I'm sorry to sound blunt, but there's no point in putting us down every chapter because you don't like the genre. Just don't read it.

----00-------------0-----------------0000---------------------000------------

Inuyasha regretted his compromise from the moment it left his mouth. He stared across the clearing from his seat by the fire, glancing at each of his friends in turn. They were all fast asleep. Shippo's arm had been bandaged. Sango and Miroku were fine, he had discovered under inspection. Not a scratch. It was curious, he thought, that Naraku would have left them alone throughout the battle, and not tried to harm them even once. The only thing wrong with them at all was the fact that they'd been sleeping for two days straight.

And that was plenty enough wrong.

For one thing, humans didn't sleep that long, even after battles. Hell, _he_ didn't sleep that long, unstirring, after even the most painful skirmishes. And they hadn't moved once. Their expressions were peaceful, their breathing normal...he couldn't for the life of him find anything physically wrong with them at all. So why weren't they waking? They hadn't hit the tree _that_ hard, had they? Surely, if that were the case, there would've been a broken bone, or at least a bruise. There were none of either.

That mystery was troubling enough, but the main thing on his mind was Kagome. She had allowed him to take a look at her wound two days before, right after the battle. It wasn't quite as bad as it looked—there had been so much blood, and yet the cut itself was only about half as long as her hand. The tentacles were narrow (thank Kami), so nothing had been disturbed; no broken ribs, or anything to that effect. There was the matter, though, that Kagome, being human, was having rather a hard time healing. It would be quite a while before she would be ready to throw herself into a battle again. He had to change her bandages at least twice daily, which wasn't any fun—her expression was so pained, it almost hurt him as much as it hurt her. And since she wasn't awake to help, he had to hold her up, while trying to twist a string of bandage around, and being mindful of how sore it was.

It was so quiet without Shippo's shrill giggles and the others' conversation. The only sounds were normal woodsy sounds—birds, insects, owls. He could hear the fire crackling softly in the background as its orangey flames cast shadows along the sleepers' faces across the clearing. Kagome murmured something in her sleep and turned over to face him, her expression troubled. Inuyasha rose from his seat and went to kneel beside the bedroll.

"Shh," he muttered absently, putting a hand to her shoulder, holding her down. "Stop fidgeting." It was about time to change the bandages again, he thought, and went to retrieve the little white box of modern medicines. Shippo was first, being the easiest. He could hold the kit up in one hand and fix the little makeshift sling with the other. It only took a second. Once that was done, he moved to the more challenging patient.

The sleeping girl was moving again. She trembled and muttered something indistinguishable, even to someone with such good hearing. Probably just another dream, Inuyasha thought, and shrugged it off, unzipping the sleeping bag and pulling it away. Kagome tensed at the sudden change in temperature, and whimpered, pulling herself into a defensive curl. Pain flashed across her features at the pull the movement had on her wound. "Stupid," he muttered affectionately, forcing her to lie straight. "Be still." He pulled her slowly into a half-sitting position against himself. Reaching his arms around her on both sides, he carefully pulled away the blood-spotted bandages and applied the new ones. Halfway through, his hand slipped a little, and the cloth swept across the cut.

He heard a quiet hiss as Kagome bit her lip to keep from crying out at the twinge the motion caused. "Sorry," he said softly, finishing up the bandages. "I'm sorry that you're in so much pain, Kagome...Does it hurt badly?" That was a stupid question, he berated himself. And made even more stupid by the fact that she wasn't awake to hear a word he was saying.

"It's okay." The whisper, unexpected, was almost too soft to catch. So much for not being awake. Inuyasha turned her slowly to face him, his arm around her shoulders for support.

"You're awake," he said blinking. The tone of his voice sounded slightly surprised. "How're you feeling?"

"Fine." She attempted a smile, but it turned into something more like a grimace.

"Keh, don't lie." He shifted a little and helped her to her feet, and began leading her slowly to sit with him by the fire. That was what she wanted—he had guessed by the way her gaze kept flitting hopelessly in that direction. "You're just a weak human, Kagome. You wanna tell me what the hell you were thinking back there with Naraku?"

"There wasn't much of a choice," she countered defensively. "You were busy with those two puppet girls, and Shippo...." She glanced at the kitsune briefly, then at Miroku and Sango. When she turned back, her eyes were anxious. "Are they okay?"

"Yeah, not a scratch on 'em," Inuyasha answered. "And Shippo will heal. Don't worry about him."

There was a moment of silence. "Are...are you okay?" she asked hesitantly.

He scoffed. "Of course, stupid. It's just a scratch." Her dark eyes lingered on his bandaged shoulder, and then traveled to his face, sparkling with the firelight. Something mysterious glimmered in their depths, and Inuyasha felt a shiver pass through his body despite himself. "What is it?" he asked, forcing a bit of a bite into his voice.

"It's just that..." she stopped, biting her lip and wincing. "Never mind. It's stupid."

"What?" Inuyasha persisted. "Tell me."

"Oh...it's just...I had a dream a few nights ago," she began lamely, avoiding his eyes. Inuyasha failed to see the relevance.

"So?"

"Well...in my dream...." She paused. "Well...Naraku was there, and..."

"And what?" He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach that he couldn't explain. She still wouldn't look at him as she opened her mouth and whispered meekly, "Everyone died." Inuyasha froze, his eyes widening in surprise. She'd had a dream that Naraku was coming? So THAT had been why she was whimpering that night... he had wondered...

Inuyasha shook himself from his reverie and glanced back at Kagome. Her back was still facing him, but he could still see her shoulders shaking, and could catch the faint scent of salt. His breath caught. "Hey, wait a minute—" he protested. "Don't cry—"

"It was terrible," she sobbed, and Inuyasha's hand paused an inch from her shoulder. "Everybody was g-gone, Inuyasha...even you..." She sniffled and turned slowly, bringing her dark eyes to meet his. "I called for you but you didn't come," she whispered. "No one came...and Naraku—Naraku was coming closer—" Fear mixed through the tangled expression of grief on her face.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked carefully.

She didn't seem to hear him. Her eyes were linked with his, but they looked past him and through him to another world. "He—he said that I—that it was—" The speech broke off into a stifled sob and she covered her face with trembling hands. It was too painful to repeat, especially to him...

_**—Flashback—**_

"St-stay back, Naraku!" Kagome shouted. "Miroku! Sango! He's over here!" She expected her friends to come running to her defense, as they always did, or for Sango's boomerang to come flying through the foliage. At the very least she thought she should've heard Shippo, calling back in return. Nothing. She looked around in surprise and called for them again, to the same effect. Her frightened gaze was met by Naraku's evil one.

"They won't come," he whispered maliciously.

"Wh-what?" Her eyes widened in surprise, but she refused to believe what his tone of voice was implying. No. They couldn't be dead. Not her friends. Sango was far too strong, Miroku far too cunning...and Inuyasha was too far away. Where had he gone? To find Kikyou? That was probably it. He _always_ went to find Kikyou.

"You heard me. They won't come for you." He smirked, and she could see all his teeth. His bright evil-red eyes blinked a still more vibrant crimson. "_No one_ is coming for you this time, Kagome. It's just you and me now."

"What did you do to my friends?" She screamed, backing away from the cool, pointy had he extended to her. Hunger burned in his eyes. "What did you do?"

"I?" He laughed harshly. "Don't be so quick to blame me, Kagome-sama. It had nothing to do with me, of course. It had everything to do with you." He paused, then added, with relish, "Well, mostly everything." He held up a hand, in which rested a little shimmery ball of...magic? Something. "Would you like to see for yourself what happened to them, Kagome? Would you?" She didn't say a word.

His smirk widened and the magic glowed brighter. "Here. Let me show you."

_An image rippled inside the orb. Kagome could see Sango and Miroku walking down a wooded path together, looking about warily. Sango was dressed in her battle armor and was holding her boomerang at the ready; Miroku's hand was tense on his staff. Their eyes darted back and forth at every forest sound, and their faces were set and determined._

_"Someone's coming," Sango murmured, her lips barely moving._

_"The aura is powerful," Miroku commented. "Be ready." They kept walking, normally, along the trail, looking in all directions discreetly, waiting. Just ahead, the foliage rustled, and a few leaves fell. Sango and Miroku stopped and waited. Everything was silent. Even the birds hushed. "Show yourself," Miroku called, holding his staff a little higher._

_The branches bent, and Kagome herself walked out._

_No! Kagome thought. I wasn't there, I was at home, speaking with momma... I never saw Miroku and Sango! Kaede'd said they'd gone to investigate a suspicious rumor... and that Inuyasha had disappeared a day after them, without a word. I know I wasn't there, Kagome told herself firmly. I wasn't._

_"No, Kagome, wait." NAraku's putrid breath tickled her ear. "It gets better yet."_

_"Kagome-chan?" In the orb, Sango's expression relaxed considerably, and the boomerang lowered. "Kagome-chan, what are you doing out here? Where's Inuyasha?" She glanced around, looking annoyed. "He didn't leave you, did he? When I get my hands on him—" She stopped, blinking curiously at the fake Kagome across the clearing. She had reached behind her back to a quiver of arrows, and had fitted one to her bow, which was now raised, poised for shooting._

_"Kagome?" Her bangs hid her face from them, but a toothy smirk was visible._

_"Now you die, Sango-CHAN. I hope it won't hurt too much." And with that, her fingers released the arrow's tail, and it went soaring, its mark true. Sango fell with a startled gasp, and a look of surprised betrayal in her eyes._

_"Sango!" Miroku shouted, quickly kneeling and trying to help her up. "You're not Kagome! Who are you?" The doppelganger looked at him innocently, and raised her bow again, reaching a hand back to pull an arrow. A blazing ofuda scroll knocked her quiver off her back, sparking as it purified the dark energy. Miroku's eyes widened in understanding. "You're one of Naraku's puppets," he said venomously. The fake schoolgirl chuckled, and reached for her bows. Miroku's eyes darted to his staff—no doubt he thought it would be enough to save him and Sango—he reached his hand toward it, slowly—_

_PING, sang the arrow as it whistled through the air, catching the monk by a purple-clothed shoulder. There was a loud thump as he collided with the ground. He did not arise._

"NOOOOO!" Kagome screamed. "Miroku-sama! Sango-chan! They—they can't be—" She collapsed to her knees, looking disbelievingly at the ground as the beginnings of tears burned at her eyes. "You." She looked at him there, standing so coolly, and for the first time she really felt hatred. She wanted to kill him with her bare hands. And he seemed to find that amusing.

"Now, now," he said lazily, holding out a hand. Kagome felt her body seize up in mid-spring, completely foiling her plot to rip him limb from limb. "If you're going to kill me, let me at least earn it." He pulled the orb forward, right before her eyes, and she watched, horrified, as the fake Kagome left the forest, wiping off a smudge of blood from her last murder. She stepped calmly into the fields—what Kagome recognized as the herb fields Kaede often sent her to.

_"Kagome!" That was Shippo's voice. Kagome felt her breath catch. No, not Shippo, she thought, unable to do anything but stare, horrified, as her evil impersonator walked through the flowers and knelt beside Shippo. "Look, Kagome, I made you another chain!" he said proudly, holding up a pretty little circlet of wildflowers. "Do you like it?" the girl in the orb raised an arrow above her head, over his. "Ka—?" Kagome couldn't see the villian's expression, but she could see Shippo's, which moved from confusion to fear as the arrow plunged down and knocked him to the ground, silencing his questioning little voice forever. The daisy chain fluttered to the ground._

"NO!" Kagome shouted, wriggling against the curse. "NOOO! SHIPPO!" She fought with all her strength, but her legs wouldn't move. Her arms wouldn't strangle Naraku as she was telling them to, and her bow was still lying, useless, across the battlefield.

"Be patient," Naraku crooned in his light-as-air careless voice. "We're almost done."

The orb rippled, and the image changed once more.

Kagome saw the unmistakable flash of red yukata, and her heart thudded painfully. "No," she whispered. "No, not...not Inuyasha," she said softly, held rapt by the scene lain before her. Inuyasha was sitting in the clearing near the well, waiting, probably for her to return. He was perched in a low lying tree, staring at the sky with absent, unfocused eyes. His silver hair flicked back and forth as if pulled by imaginary fingers, and he brushed it back without a thought.

_"Inuyasha!" His ears immediately perked to attention and his body stiffened. Kagome was surprised he didn't fall from the tree. He leapt from the branch and landed, balanced, on his feet at the ground below. "Kagome?" he bellowed back, following the direction of the scream. "Where are you?" There was panic in his eyes as he rushed forward, in that graceful arching run that almost could've been called flying._

_He came to an abrupt stop a few minutes later, sending a cloud of dust up into the air. "Kagome?" he called loudly. "Where are you? Say something!" He sniffed, probably trying to find her scent, and paused, something flickering through his eyes and wiping all thought from them. He whipped around, as if he was being attacked—but that wasn't it. He didn't pull Tetsusaiga from its sheath at his side. It hung there limply, as his eyes widened in alarm._

_"K-kagome?"_

_And it was—her double at least. The filthy creature was standing slackly a few feet away, shaking in what looked like pain. She held a hand to a bloody cut on her shoulder—one of many. Her white school uniform shirt—just like the real Kagome's—was splattered with blood, and hardly a spot was left clean. The faker whimpered realistically and stumbled in a convincing faint, her bow falling loosely at her feet. Inuyasha rushed forward and caught her before she could fall._

_"Kagome!" he exclaimed, kneeling with the girl in tow. "Are you okay? Kagome?" there was horror in his voice. He touched her face, his hand trembling as much as she was, and the masquerading stranger opened her eyes. Her lashes fluttered and she whimpered. Naraku's puppet was a brilliant actress. Inuyasha didn't suspect a thing._ 'What's wrong with you?' Kagome shouted at him mentally. 'Her scent! Notice her scent before it's too late!'

_"Inu...yasha," she breathed, and he tensed again._

_"What happened to you?" They both watched as the bleeding puppet girl swallowed and trembled, apparently gathering her strength to speak. It was sickening (for Kagome, at least) to watch the intruder fooling her friend so wholly. His concern was completely real, but her pain—that awful pretender's—was not._

"You're despicable," Kagome hissed to Naraku, wishing wholeheartedly that her arms would move. She wanted desperately to strangle the life out of the cocky enemy that was smiling so smugly at her, enjoying her fury.

"But wait," Naraku whispered delightedly. "There's more."

She was afraid to look, for she knew what was coming. Still, her eyes rose back to the orb just in time to see the final act of betrayal that was Naraku's mark on every scheme. Inuyasha's face was more sorrow and confusion than pain as the puppet pulled her claws from his side and kicked him as he crumpled to the ground.

_"Stupid Halfling," she scoffed, and Kagome pulled back in horror, trying urgently to squirm away, to look away. Nevertheless, she heard the voice that was mimicking her own say cruelly, "You honestly thought that I would stay with you? After everything you've done to me? Everything you've said?"_

"Inuyasha," Kagome cried, tugging at the numbness that entrapped her body. "I'm sorry! It wasn't me! Don't believe his trick, Inuyasha! Don't—don't—" she stopped and watched as Naraku loomed over her, his tentacles raised, prepared for attack. Two tears rolled distinctly down her cheeks as she told him brazenly, "Go ahead! Kill me. I don't care." She squirmed, keeping eye contact furiously.

"Oh, dearest, how could you think I would kill you? No, not yet. Not just yet." He smiled maliciously. "No, you're much too useful. You will help me locate the remaining shards of the Shikon jewel."

"I won't!" Kagome shrieked, throwing her head away from his repulsing hand. "I will never help you!"

"But you will," Naraku said smoothly. "Kohaku didn't intend to help me either, did he? But I have my ways..." He pulled from the folds of his robes a dark-tainted Shikon shard for emphasis. "Oh, yes, Kagome, I have my ways. You will kill hundreds of people...and I promise you will enjoy it. You'll forget all your pain..."

"That won't work," Kagome snapped. "The fragment will purify if you put it anywhere near me."

"Not if you're dead," Naraku whispered viciously. And he raised his arm for the final blow.

_**—End Flashback—**_

"Kagome! Say something!"

She blinked the tears away from her eyes and looked up. Inuyasha's face was an inch from her own, his hands firmly on her shoulders, his eyes staring intently into hers. When had he moved? She hadn't even noticed. Even the memory of the dream was terrible. She swallowed and looked at him steadily, leaning her head forward to rest on his tense shoulder. "He said it was my fault," she told him quietly. "But it wasn't, Inuyasha. I didn't...I would never hurt any of you."

"I know that," he told her quietly. Where had this sudden guilty tone come from? "We all know that. What—" He stopped as she shifted a little uneasily and her cheek brushed against his. "I think you're feverish," he said uneasily. "Look, you should get some rest now."

"I'm not sick," she insisted. "Don't worry about it."

Silence filled the clearing as their eyes met for a fiery instant. Liar, he thought silently, but said nothing, trying to read the unreadable expression on her face.

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Tailz: Sorry it took so long, minna-chan, but I haven't had a compy in weeks...

Sanji: Yeah.... Anyway, review quickly so we can update quickly! Ja!


	11. Flying Lessons

Okay, everyone, listen up. Something was brought to my attention yesterday! This chapter is hereby dedicated to katty-kat, who was sad that I never mentioned her! I didn't mean it, katty-chan, I promise!!! ::Hands her a mondo-size-of-New-York-chocolate-chip-cookie:: I really do I appreciate all your reviews! And Sanji does too! DON'T YOU?

Sanji: Yeah! Of c-course I do! ::Fidgets away from Tailz's death glare::

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Another day passed slowly. Miroku and Sango slept on. Shippo woke up around lunchtime and was bouncing around maniacally, and would've woke Kagome up right then and there if Inuyasha hadn't caught him and clamped a hand over the kit's mouth. "She needs her rest," he'd hissed, impatiently, and immediately a torrent of questions came forth—was she all right? What had happened to her? Were the others okay? When would they be leaving to go back to Kaede's village? Inuyasha had eventually gotten so irritated with the babbling that he had bonked the kitsune on the head and told him to shut up before he fed him to a demon. Shippo hushed.

The sun set and the moon rose, hesitantly, from the skyline. Shippo went back to sleep early and suddenly everything was quiet again. The change was startling, but not in all actuality a bad thing. It was sort of nice to be able to hear his own thoughts again.

Kagome had been lying the night before. She was sick, and they both knew it. She didn't wake all day, not even when he changed her bandages or when Shippo was bouncing around and blathering. Miroku and Sango were still sleeping, try as he might to rouse them, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out why. Everything about their appearance and vital signs were normal. It was really strange. But still, he held true on his word to Kagome about not leaving until they woke.

If they were going to stay, he thought, he couldn't let Kagome get any worse, or she'd be too ill to travel by the time those two idiots woke up. Inuyasha was by no means a healer, but he had listened in a few times when Kaede had been instructing Kagome about the healing properties of certain herbs. He crept silently from the campsite with the failing light and returned just as dusk was falling, several plants clutched in his fist. The really oily, thin-leafed one helped to break a fever, and the dark green one was good for any sort of common illness. Maybe listening was useful, after all, he thought smugly, sitting down with a pot he'd extracted from Kagome's bag.

It was a simple task to crush up the plants and put them into the metal pot with some water. A few minutes later, the plants were boiling into a minty liquid, and Inuyasha knew, with satisfaction, that he'd blended them right—it was the same smell that often filled the old hag's hut when she was caring for someone. He knew, too, that the stuff had to be stirred constantly until it turned a pinkish color. That was when Kaede knew it was done.

'Now where's that spoon thing?' He looked through the bag for a few seconds before his hand closed on the smooth wood of the utensil that she had broken not long ago—the handle and the bowl-shaped part of it were tied together sloppily with a piece of bandage. Together with the spoon, Inuyasha returned to his seat before the campfire and began to stir the potion.

He found out quickly that it was not as easy as he'd thought. For one thing, he wasn't used to holding something so small, so he kept dropping it, and retrieving it from the steaming hot water wasn't fun at all. For another, he kept getting impatient and sloshing the medicine out of the pot. He was thoroughly frustrated by the time a small voice inquired quietly from across the campsite.

"Inuyasha?" He glanced up from his task of minding the pot.

"What is it?" he asked, pulling his fingers away from the boiling thing quickly, waving them a little. He couldn't let his attention wander at all or else he'd have no fingers left to wield Tetsusaiga later. This really wasn't the kind of work he was cut out for. A quick glance at the girl revealed that she was still not completely aware; she lay on her back in the bedroll, staring at the sky with sleepy eyes. She probably wouldn't be awake too much longer.

"Have you ever thought of flying?"

Inuyasha froze in mid-stir, completely caught off guard.

"_What_?"

"Have you ever thought about flying before?"

He stared at her as though she was possessed.

"What kind of question is _that_?" The spoon slipped into the now cloudy, slightly grayish water. Cursing under his breath, he forced his poor fingers back into the hot water to salvage it. The water was so murky that he couldn't see the black bottom of the pot, let alone the ladle, so it was blind (and painful) guesswork. When he finally managed to locate the thing, his fingers were burning so badly that it was all he could do to drop the utensil into his lap and plunge his burnt fingers into his mouth—which he immediately regretted. The stuff, though it smelled kind of nice, tasted terrible. Poor Kagome wouldn't want to drink it, that was for sure.

"Inuyasha?"

"What now?" he asked around his fingers, then, realizing where they were, quickly pulled them out and tried to look dignified. Needless to say, it didn't work out so well.

"Where you mad at me?" Inuyasha blinked at her. The pink tinge that colored her cheeks had become more pronounced sometime during the day, and her eyes looked almost as cloudy as the boiling herby medicine. "I'm not mad at you," he assured her. "Why would you think I was?"

"You didn't answer my question."

He gave her a blank look.

"About flying."

Oh. Ohhh. That.

"You're delirious," he told her flatly. "Go to sleep."

She frowned, looking stubborn. "Not until you answer my question."

"Keh," the half-demon scoffed.

Suddenly, she was nose-to-nose with him, looking into his face earnestly as if she might find the answer there somewhere. Inuyasha yelped and scooted backwards, but Kagome didn't seem to notice. "You can't have never thought about it, Inuyasha. Everybody does sometime in their life." He looked at her like she was crazy, but she just continued to looking deeply into his eyes, as if glancing into his soul. He felt himself begin to blush almost as brightly as she when she climbed into his lap and stared up at him from beneath his chin, looking for all the world a little child.

"Um, K-kagome—" He stammered intelligently, pushing her back with both hands. "You're sick, and I don't think—"

"You know, when I first met you, I thought you could fly," she confided, as though he'd never spoken (or blushed red enough to put his yukata to shame.) Inuyasha stared at her, apparently at a loss for words. "You're very graceful," she added thoughtfully, and he blushed a deeper shade. Kagome played with his hair a little. "I always thought you were too graceful to be evil. Especially when you were jumping from tree to tree."

"Really?" he asked, listening in spite of himself. 'You're actually believing this?' A voice in his head scoffed. 'She doesn't even know what she's saying. And why should you care anyway?' But even so, he felt a rush of hope when she nodded seriously.

"I wasn't scared of you, because I thought, no one so graceful could be bad." Her smile shrank about three shades. "But then...you tried to throw me off the cliff." He grimaced. "I was a little unsure then, I guess, but I wasn't scared." She looked at him innocently. "Why did you want to kill me then, Inuyasha?"

He felt a stab of guilt. "I was being stupid," he said quietly. "I was confused. I was angry. It was stupid to mistake you for Kikyou. You two are nothing alike." Kagome's eyes rose to meet his, looking downtrodden despite his assurance.

"You called me Kikyou once, not long ago," she said softly. "I was trying to sleep, and you looked down at me and said 'Kikyou.'" The tone of her voice was hurt, like a scolded kid. "I didn't say anything because I didn't want you to get even madder at me. You're not still mad, are you, Inuyasha? For not telling you?" He stared at her, suddenly feeling very lowly. Did she really worry about him being angry all the time? He had had an awfully short temper lately. In truth, she hadn't deserved the wrath of his annoyance. Any one of the others would have tried to hide their sickness too in her place.

Were they _all _afraid of his temper?

He swallowed and looked remorsefully at the girl.

"No, Kagome. I'm not mad at you, okay? Not now, not before. I was just frustrated that you didn't tell me that you were sick."

"You're worried that "I'll get sick again. Like last time," she said in a voice that suggested she was just discovering the possibility. "Oh, don't worry, Inuyasha. I won't get sick like that again. Tsuki and Maseru said so." Her tone was naively confident, like a child's. Her cheeks had grown pinker.

"Who said so?" Inuyasha frowned thoughtfully. He'd never heard those names before.

"The people who helped me thought the Trials," she explained lightly. Inuyasha was baffled.

"What? Trials? Kagome, I think you need to get some rest." He tried to pry her arms off of his neck, but she held tight.

"No, no. I'm not making it up, silly," she protested. "It really did happen. Tsuki told me that I had to make it through these tests called the Trials. If I did, I could go back to earth. And see you again," she added shyly. "I missed you a lot while I was gone." Inuyasha had half a mind to tell her that she'd never gone anywhere—he'd sat with her the whole time in the sick house. But it would be like arguing with a toddler, and she probably wouldn't understand anyway. Not in this condition.

"You have to take your medicine now," he told her, trying to sound a little gentler. He held out a cup of the stud that had been brewing, which was now a deep pink just like Kaede's. She took it, curiously, and held it to her mouth. Her expression changed quickly to revulsion.

"Ick," she said squeakily. "I'm not drinking that. It smells bad."

"Yeah, well. It's the same stuff Kaede gives the brats back home to get well. You have to drink it."

Kagome made a face at him. "No way!"

"Come on," Inuyasha snapped. "Don't be babyish about it. Just go ahead and get it over with!"

"Uh-uh!"

"It's not that bad, wench."

"Then YOU drink it!"

"I'M not the one that's sick, stupid!"

"Don't call me stupid, stupid! Sit!"

Inuyasha's face communed with the dirt, and he only just managed to keep the cup of medicine from spilling. He cursed colorfully into the ground before peeling his face from it. "Dammit, Kagome, just drink it already, would you?"

"No," she said stubbornly. Inuyasha ground his teeth. It was like trying to reason with a three-year-old. Needless to say, Inuyasha was not very good with children. He was about to hold her down and force her to drink it when a thought occurred to him.

If she was acting like a kid, he'd just have to treat her like one.

"Well, all right, then," he said lightly in his best I-don't-give-a-hoot voice. He shrugged, then turned away with the cup. "I guess you don't want to come with me."

Kagome blinked. "Huh? Come with you?"

"Well, yeah," he said, offhand. "I was gonna show you something secret, but you can't come unless you take your medicine. Oh well."

He saw her blink in surprise, thinking over his words, and had to work hard to keep the amusement off of his face. It was rather like bargaining with a half-asleep Shippo. She wouldn't have fallen for it if she was in her right mind—however, might as well take advantage of it. When she snapped out of it, forcing her to drink the herb-water would be considerably tougher.

"If I drink it," she said doubtfully, "will you let me come with you?"

"Sure," he said casually. "Why not. Better decide soon, though. Nighttime's not gonna last forever." He held the cup out to her, keeping his face carefully impassive, and she stared at it. With both hands she accepted the beaker and stared disgustedly into its cloudy depths. He pitied her then, but kept his expression guarded still. Lucky HE didn't have to drink it.

"Will it hurt me?" she asked in a quiet, innocent voice.

"Of course not." He blinked in surprise. "I'd never try to give you something that would hurt you. You know that." She looked away in shame, and he felt a little flutter in his heart. 'Don't you trust me?' He thought, staring intently at her. The fever had made her naively truthful, revealing a lot of the thoughts she wouldn't normally dare to speak. "Kagome," he said, painfully, "you do trust me, don't you?"

"Yes." The answer was quiet, barely a whisper. "Of course I trust you."

He gave her a pained look that said clearly, 'Tell me the truth.'

"No, I do," she insisted. "I do trust you. It's just...sometimes...I'm scared."

"Scared of me?" he breathed, barely moving. She shook her head slowly. Memories of Miroku retelling one of his transformations flashed before his mind's eye. He couldn't remember them, but his friends all looked frightened—or at least uneasy—when he came to his senses. Who could blame her for being frightened of the Halfling monster? His ears drooped, and he waited for her to affirm it, in that sweet voice that he couldn't be mad at even if he tried...

"No."

He looked at her incredulously. No?

"I'm not scared of you, Inuyasha." A moment passed in silence. The fire crackled a she looked at him with those watery chocolate eyes and murmured, almost whispered, "I'm not scared of you. I'm scared...I'm scared of losing you." He watched, helplessly, as tears appeared and she whispered in a quiet tone, "Everyone wants to hurt you, Inuyasha, but you always get away...I'm worried that someday, you won't, and then—" Her voice broke, and she trembled, burying her face in his yukata.

"There's no need to worry about me," he said as confidently as he could manage. "I can take care of myself, Kagome. You know that."

"But what if something happens to you? What if you don't come, like...like in my dream?" Abruptly, she froze, and Inuyasha did as well, struck by her sentence. She looked way from him but didn't move from her position in his lap.

"What do you mean, if I don't come?"

"What if you can't save us next time?" her voice was barely audible at all, holding traces of deep misery. Inuyasha took a sharp breath and pulled her closer, minding her bandages.

"That will never happen," he swore seriously. "I'll always come for you." Silence passed between them as it had so often before. She didn't say anything, but her eyes, looking stubbornly anywhere but at him, were desolate. He couldn't stand it. "Look at me, Kagome." It was a pleading tone that he spoke with.

Nothing.

"Look at me," he repeated, this time pulling her chin up, forcing her to meet his gaze. She didn't resist, but stared at him blearily. He could feel the unnatural heat, hot and sticky, move between them. She was so close...the strangest sense of longing spoke up in his brain then, by the form of the plaguing little voice that had bothered him so long. It was like being in a mind-controlled daze. He scarcely registered the fact any more than she that he leaned forward and touched his lips to hers. The contact was brief—his eyes widened in surprise and he snapped back as though he'd been burned; indeed, his cheeks were red enough to have been flame stroked. Kagome stared at him, a dizzy sort of surprise on her face. "You...just kissed me," she said shakily. "Why?"

"What do you mean why?" he swallowed, his heart still pounding. It was a good question. Even he wasn't sure why he'd done that.

"Why did you kiss me? You don't like me." She blinked innocently at the flush that scurried to make his cheeks redder still, in more embarrassment and even....anger?

"What do you mean I don't like you? I'd give my _life_ for you!" And almost had, on several occasions! A million memories of a million battles passed through his mind. He'd thrown himself in front of all the attacks meant for her, protected her from every possible foe and danger that he could. He stayed awake every night with thoughts of soft admittance—admittance to the fact that if anything ever happened to her, his whole world would shatter. During those endless weeks of the sickness, he had sat beside her—scarcely left his side at all—for all his worrying. Wasn't that proof enough?

But Kagome only met his eyes squarely with that dim, defiant twinkle about her. "I know you care for me," she said quietly, "but you don't like me. At least, not in the way someone likes someone they kiss."

He looked at her incredulously, frozen and unable to do anything but gawk. "Why...what..." he wanted to ask what had given her that idea, but he knew. HE had given her that idea. Another flurry of memories assailed him—this time of all their stupid fights, all the names he had called her, all the times he treated her like nothing and ran off to a psycho ex-lover, proving once and for all that her feelings meant nil to him.

His own voice echoed back to him with varying shades of cruelty and malice.

_'I'm tired of always having to rescue you!'_

_'Fine, go home! And stay there! It's not like I care!'_

_'She's just a shard-detector! Nothing else!'_

Even worse was picturing her expression in those instants. Her eyes were always wide with hurt, with tears she tried to hide from him. They always spoke volumes of sorrow, always seemed to ask, Why'd you do this to me? All she'd ever done was help him, and want to stay by his side...and how had he repaid her, the only person in half a century to trust him? Suddenly, it seemed so ironic that he was always chorusing to everyone, including himself, that he had debts to repay to Kikyou, promises and loyalty to her...And here was this innocent, who braved demons and death and stayed with him even though he had nothing to offer, even his affection. And he had repaid her with malice, with arguments, with all his anger at the rest of life that he had nowhere to vent.

The thought sickened him.

The villagers were right: he was a monster.

Kagome was watching him with that soft surrender that told him she took his silence as proof that she was right. He mouthed a million apologies wordlessly—his voce seemed to have suddenly deserted him. He wanted to tell her that she was wrong—he _did_ love her. He knew he should've said something long before that moment—but the same pounding fault occurred to him that always had: he couldn't tell her. How could he reveal all his feelings, tell her that she was more important than his measly life—only to prove later that they would have no future? How could he leave her, desolate, knowing that he loved her and _still_ went to hell for another woman?

He might've been half-human, but he still had enough of a heart to keep from being that cruel. He would never do anything so terrible to bright, cheery Kagome. His departure would be betrayal enough already. It was his hopes that after the quest—after he faced his fate and Kikyou—she could go on with her life, and find someone worthy of her love. HE certainly didn't someone so pure and loyal when he couldn't give any loyalty back. He didn't deserve anyone at all. And so he bit his tongue against the flow of 'you're wrong' sentences and stared at that girl with all of his regret shining in his amber eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, and she blanched as though he had lashed out at her or said something threatening.

"It...it's okay." I already knew, anyway, her pained, forced smile told him—but she seemed to understand.

She _always_ understood.

Another moment of crackling, dying flames and cricket song spanned across the evident pain of both parties. Inuyasha continued to berate himself, quietly, about being so blunt about breaking his friend's heart; Kagome just stared, unseeing, into the orange heart of the caged campfire as her mind supplied images to rush through it. Nothing happened for so long that the half-demon began to fidget, uneasily rolling Tetsusaiga between his dirty palms. The crickets sang their hearts out to the stoic moon and stars above, and the forest held its breath.

Inuyasha looked up in surprise as Kagome suddenly lifted the cup of herb-water (now, doubtless, ice cold) and sipped the whole thing at once. Her face turned a curious shade of stark-white, as even the feverish blush left her cheeks, and Inuyasha was sure she was going to faint—but instead she only grimaced terribly and shuddered, taking hold of her own sleeves and clenching her eyes shut. She was left shivering for several minutes before daring to cautiously open her eyes again.

"No wonder Kaede only uses that in emergencies," she muttered. "If she used it too often, everyone in the village would be sick, whether or not they were to begin with." Inuyasha gave a stiff chuckle, relieved that she'd spoken. The silence was becoming much too tense.

"Yeah, I wondered why she looked so mischievous when she handed it to Miroku that one time." She nodded, somewhat amused, and swallowed repeatedly, as if trying to rid herself of the taste, while her cheeks slowly regained their crimson hue. And suddenly, he had an idea, as out of the blue as the "kiss" had been. He jumped to his feet and offered her his hand.

"All right. Come on."

She looked understandably confused. "Huh?"

Inuyasha gave her a 'you're-missing-the-obvious' look and said, forcing exasperation, "A deal's a deal. You took the hag's awful medicine, so I have to bring you with me to see a secret. Remember?" She blinked for a moment, then accepted his hand and allowed herself to be pulled into a standing position. "Climb on," he told her, turning, "and hold on." She obeyed, confused, and he set off into the forest, leaving the campfire and camp itself fast behind. Inuyasha felt her hands, slightly clammy, slip hesitantly onto his shoulders, and was, for some reason, relieved. Their company didn't seem so forced now, and if he focused on running and how nice it was to have her warm body so close, then he could almost convince himself that he had left all thoughts of death and Kikyou back with the fire.

"Hold on," he warned, and leapt into the trees, where he proceeded to bound branch to branch above the ground the way she had seen him do all those times before. She had guessed right—it really did feel like flying. His strides were so smooth and even, no matter where he was running. How graceful he was, Kagome thought, with the wind at his sides, nimbly defying gravity, never slipping—

Well, that was about the time that Inuyasha's foot actually missed a branch, and the two of them went spiraling towards the ground. On a split second, he clutched desperately at the bark of a limb (probably the one he had slipped on) and caught Kagome's collar, suspending the both of them in mid-air and sparing a very painful landing. Kagome was still praising his demonic reflexes when he released his hold, landed firmly planted on both his feet and caught her neatly, and she had to admire his recovery style. Flawless. Still, he looked embarrassed as he said, "That was close."

"Really close," Kagome agreed with a sort of ditzy smile. "Nice catch, though. Ever thought of playing football?"

"Football?" he repeated blankly. "What's that?"

They set off again, this time on the ground and not in the trees, and Kagome tried in vain to explain to Inuyasha the rules and concepts of football. He looked critical throughout it, finally asking why they fought over the ball, and, if they did, why they didn't use swords or something. Kagome took that as a cue to let the subject drop. Instead, she focused on the steady rhythm of Inuyasha's footfalls. He barely bounced at all, and scarcely made a sound as he bounded through the forest at top speed. It was really mollifying, Kagome thought sleepily, as she lay her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. The balmy summer wind on all sides, the warm, strong arms cradling her, the stable thudding of Inuyasha's footfalls, the quiet tempo of his breathing...

She had been sleeping for a while when Inuyasha finally stopped, a little out of breath. "Well, here we are," he said breathlessly. No response. He listened carefully. "Kagome?" her breathing, in his ear, was slow and even, the proof of a sleeper. He hadn't realized she was sleeping. Silly wench. 'Oh well,' he thought, heading back towards camp and taking care to make his strides as light as he could. 'Guess I'll have to show you another time.'

Back at camp, nothing much had changed. Everyone was still sleeping, but the fire had burned out. He walked around the flickering embers and knelt beside the great blue sleeping bag. Painstakingly, he lowered the sleeping girl from his back and into the sleeping bag, as slowly as he knew how. She didn't stir, so he crept away, smiling for some odd reason.

"Goodnight, Kagome."

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Tailz: Wow. There were considerably less reviews for this chapter than usual. Maybe everyone got mad at me for snapping at them for flaming about the angst....? Ah, well. Thanks to everyone that handled the situation like mature people and answered me. And kept reading. That's always a plus. And, no, Moogle, I'm not mad at you. :)

Sanji: A big thank you to KagometheHauntress for her nice long review. We really appreciate it a ton—it actually gave us some constructive comments!! Arigatou!


	12. The Woes of Dreamland

Okay. I'm gonna say this here and now. This chapter is dedicated to EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU, because EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU is important and appreciated and loved beyond belief. NO MORE BELLYACHING!!! I'm sorry that I haven't mentioned you all by name, but I DO appreciate the fact that most of you review every chapter. Don't feel unimportant. Someone mentioned something about why do I always mention Moogle. Why? Okay, here's why: she leaves reviews that I can actually get something out of, and can actually REPLY to. I'm not saying the rest of you don't, but I mean, really, how am I supposed to reply to "Kool great chap" or "Ooh scary. Update"? Especially when that's what's written for every chapter! Look, I appreciate ALL feedback, but I can't mention everything and everyone all the time!!

Sanji: ::Patpat:: S'ok, Tailzy. Breathe.

Tailz: And another thing. Hello, Marty. Thanks for reviewing. I really didn't appreciate your comment much. YES, I have spell check, but, if you read my author's notes I ALSO have only an hour a day to work on this and an astounding amount of homework and responsibilities (not to mention a few issues at home) to deal with. That leaves little room for proofreading more than once. I know there are errors, but as a general rule, my grammar's pretty good. You can read it, can't you? You can understand it, right? THEN NO COMPLAINING!!!

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Miroku had never known such pain in his life. The windtunnel was burning like a forest fire, and it was all he could do to clutch it desperately with his other, uncursed, hand. His arm, his fingers, his entire body shook in pure agony as he shouted prayers to Kami every time he could catch his breath. He screamed to the others to move back; if his eyes hadn't been blurred with agony and sweat, he would've been able to see Sango's worried, determined expression as she edged closer, refusing to run. The others stood by, hesitantly, blanching every time he ordered them to leave. Inuyasha held Kagome tightly in both of his arms, holding her back, keeping her away and watching in dismay; Shippo wailed into the schoolgirl's shirt and cried to Miroku, pleading for him not to leave.

But the time had come. They all knew it. Miroku's palm felt ready to split—his whole body seemed ready to tear, right down the middle, as he dug his feet deeper, if that was possible, into the grassy forest floor they were standing on. Trees, bushes, and even small animals flew relentlessly into the dark void on Miroku's hand; try as he might, it wouldn't close, it wouldn't seal. The prayer beads that had stayed around his wrist had long since been sucked in, right as the kazaana had burst open. There was no hope for him, but for the others...

"GO!" he shouted to Sango, and his voice cracked from exhaustion from all the yelling his raw throat had done. "GO, SANGO! TAKE THE OTHERS!" 'Don't let Shippo see,' he thought desperately. 'Make Kagome-sama look away...she shouldn't watch this either...' Sango gave him a look; she was so close now that he could see her tearstained face as she shook her head.

"I won't leave, Houshi-sama!" she shouted over the howling breeze that shrieked like a million angry banshees. "Let me—help—you—" She moved from tree to tree, clutching each one for dear life, and came ever closer, fighting the pull of the tunnel as it furiously tried to consume her. Miroku tried with all of his strength to point his cursed hand away from her, but found that he couldn't move at all; his body had stiffened, as if preparing itself for the eternity of neither life nor death... he watched, helplessly horrified, as Shippo struggled free of Kagome's hold and ran forward too, to join Sango—but was too light to keep his hold on the ground and rose, disappearing into the blackness of the void forever.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Kagome's struggling became more pronounced, and Inuyasha knelt, pressing her more tightly into the collar of his haori to prevent her getting loose, muffling her voice. Even so, her cries for Shippo were too loud to miss. Miroku closed his eyes in shame. 'I'm sorry, Shippo,' he thought grimly, 'but I will follow you, all too soon. You won't be alone in limbo.' And with that, he dislodged his feet from the ground, pushing away Sango's hands as she tried to catch and steady him. The last sounds he heard were Kagome's unwavering yelps, Inuyasha's pained soothing, and Sango's wail of his name as he disappeared from her side forever...

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How had it come to this? Against the crimson setting sun against the horizon, Sango raised Hiraikotsu with a battle cry and loosed her weapon, knocking the dagger from her adversary's hand for what seemed the hundredth time. "I don't want to do this. Stop!" Yet another weapon was raised in the hand that seemed much too small to be wielding a scythe of demon bone; yet it was a hand of a demon-exterminator, however young and innocent he might be.

"No! KOHAKU! Stop!" The boy threw her a steely, expressionless glare, and raised the bone sickle above his head. The weapon already dripped with blood—with her friends' blood, with innocent villagers' blood. Even with Miroku's blood. Sango choked on the stale breath she hadn't realized she was holding and backed up a bit, tightening her hold on the Testusaia and sobbing at the reality of what she must do. Inuyasha...even Inuyasha was gone, trying to protect the others. Had Kohaku killed him too? It was hard to remember... so much had happened... so much... And now, the only way to stop him... the only way that had ever existed... was to...to...

'Kohaku... how can I slaughter my own brother?' Angry, hot tears flowed down her face in a million rivulets, and she cursed the foul name of the one half-demon responsible for everything. Naraku had caused all of her pain and suffering...without him, she might still be normal and happy, back at home with father and Kohaku and the villagers... it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that they had gotten dragged into this. Kohaku was still so young...

"That's it, Kohaku," she told him soberly. "I-I have t-to stop you. You h-hurt all those people, and I—I—" She choked, then continued, "I c-can't watch you s-suffering at Naraku's hands. I...I'm going to stop it, right now." She edged forward, and Kohaku didn't move, as if he sensed her decision. "I'm sorry, little brother," Sango whimpered, taking him by the shoulder and pushing his weapon away. "I l-love you, Kohaku, but it ends here—" She raised the trembling blade, planning to end it for both of them—the Tetsusaiga came down in a steady arch, ready even though the hand that held it was not—

And suddenly, he was no longer there. Sango froze, every muscle in her body tensing, as she looked down. Kohaku was gone. Inuyasha's sword was gone. Even the bodies of her dead friends were gone. 'What...what's...?' She turned around, suddenly plagued with the feeling that someone was watching, and found herself face-to-face with Miroku. Nothing happened for a heartbeat. Then two.

"Sango," Miroku said seriously. "None of this is real. You know where we are, don't you?"

"Y-yes," Sango answered shakily. "We're dead, aren't we? From the battle?" It had to be a dream. There was no way Kohaku could've just disappeared otherwise. It was some form of a game her mind was playing unconsciously. That, in itself, was a small shred of comfort. At least the others were all right, and her brother hadn't murdered them.

"I don't think so," Miroku said thoughtfully. "I believe that we're just in a provoked slumber. Right before we hit the tree, I felt a prick."

"So did I." The light came into Sango's eyes. "A poisonous dart, do you think? Naraku poisoned us? But why?"

"I don't know, but I have a feeling he had more in mind than a couple of our nightmares." The pair remained silent, staring alternately at the crusted dirt of Sango's twisted dream and at each other. The same question fluttered through both of their minds: how to get out? How could you force yourself out of a dream when your body was unable to wake? "Perhaps there is some way we could relay the message to Inuyasha that he must try to rouse us," Miroku suggested finally, "since we obviously can't return until our bodies wake."

"But how?" Sango thought for a moment, in unison with the monk. "I know of a villager who heard from her daughter in a dream once, when she was in trouble," she offered. "If he is sleeping, it might be easier to reach him than otherwise."

"I guess...we just start by trying to call out." They both exchanged a quick nod and cupped their hands to their mouths, shouting at the tops of their voices.

"Inuyasha!"

"Kagome-chan! Can you hear me? It's Sango!"

"Shippo! Shippo! You have to—" The cry died in the monk's throat. He and Sango stared, wide-eyed, at the small, red, curled up form of Shippo, who was crouching at their feet. He was looking at them with an equally incredulous gaping mouth, and inquired, almost as if he wasn't sure he wasn't hallucinating, "Sango? Miroku?"

"Shippo?" The others asked in unison, and Sango bent down and scooped him up into her arms. "Shippo! It worked."

"What worked?" the kitsune asked. "Were you calling me a second ago? I heard something..." he trailed off thoughtfully. "I was having a dream about mother, and then I heard your voices...it was strange... like you were in my dream, but you weren't..." Shippo peered up at them. "_Are _you in my dream?"

"I don't know," Sango answered truthfully. "Maybe you're in mine. Or we're in Miroku's. What I do know is, you're here, and you've got to tell Inuyasha something important right away." Shippo nodded his understanding and listened, carefully, as Sango explained their predicament. "And you've got to tell Inuyasha and Kagome to wake us up," she finished, "or we might not again."

"You think Naraku did this?" The demon-exterminator and the houshi nodded, and Shippo squinted. "But...why? What could he get out of this? Unless...." His emerald eyes flickered.

"Unless...what, Shippo?"

"Unless Naraku's trying to make us stay in the clearing!" Shippo suddenly looked frightened, and his gaze, upon the others, was intense, desperate. At their curious looks, he explained, "Inuyasha told me a few days ago that we couldn't leave the clearing until you guys woke up, 'cause he promised Kagome. But Kagome's sick again... Inuyasha's worried that if we don't go back to Kaede, it might get worse!" he said all of this very fast, and his hands moved emphatically with every other word.

"Well, we can't stay then," Sango said decisively. "Look. Tell Inuyasha to try to wake us up. And if he can't, then tell him to leave us. "It's the only way," she insisted when he opened his mouth to argue. "It doesn't matter what Kagome says. She's not thinking straight anyway. We are not going to be responsible for letting her get sick again. Inuyasha wouldn't live through it." She paused before quietly adding, "And neither would you, Shippo."

"Go on then," Miroku urged. "You must force yourself to wake, Shippo, and tell Inuyasha everything we've said. There's not any time to spare." The kitsune hesitated, then nodded, uncertainly, and fixed them with a small, wavering stare.

"But...what if we can't wake you up?"

"Then, we will simply have to go from there." Shippo disappeared as suddenly as he had come, and Miroku and Sango exchanged weary glances. What if they could never return to the land of the living? What if it was already too late for them? Miroku leaned over and hesitantly put his arm around Sango, patting her lightly on the shoulder. "It will be all right," he assured quietly. "We...we will think of something."

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Tailz: ....... ::Glares at Sanji as he tries to get her to smile::

Sanji: Eh, don't worry...she'll be fine by next chapter, presuming no one else makes a smart comment.... lord help me if they do.... ::Winces as Tailz pulls out the thumbscrews:: Ah, Tailzy, sweetie... didn't we talk about how hurting yourself is bad?

Tailz: ::Walks out of the room with the screws::

Sanji: Eep... ::Follows:: Tailz, bring those back here....!


	13. Nameless Chapter

Sanji: Hey, everybody! How's it goin'?

Tailz: ::Furious muffled cursing behind the tape around her mouth::

Sanji: Now, now, Tailzy. None of that. There are innocent ears—er, eyes—that might take offense.

Tailz: ….. ::Blank look:: ::Kicks around and thrashes:: Memme gwoh! (Lemme go!) Mpphleshmrifrishtalocciammepmh! ((Better not translate that…. ::Sweatdrop::))

Sanji: ::Sweat:: Erm… well… she really IS sorry about all the ranting last chappie. And we're not mad at you, Marty. Thank you for reviewing, and you weren't too far off. There's a lot of mistakes in there…. In all fairness to her, poor Tailzy really does have a lot going on right now… But that doesn't make yelling at the readers right, Tailz. You understand that, right? And no more thumbscrews?

Tailz: ::Doesn't hear him:: :: is in the middle of a loud muffled stream of yelling::

Sanji: Taaaaiiilz…

Tailz: MMPH! ::Kicks at him, tips the chair over:: OO ::PLOP!::

Sanji: ::Sweatdrop:: Oh dear… C'mere, Tailz… stop squirming… HEY! If you bite me again, I'll give you to B!

Tailz: OO KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! ASFDAMFSASMDASMDA!!! ::Struggles furiously and scurries away from Sanji still tied to the chair::

::In the background noise: WHAP! WHAP!::

Sanji: Um… Tailz… I don't think you're going to fit under the coffee table with that chair on your back…

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The silence had become deafening. Inuyasha sat on the ground near the smoldering remains of the fire, throwing blank glares at the dying embers as if to demand that they resurrect themselves. It had needed to be replenished hours ago, but the supply of extra firewood had long since run out, and he didn't have the patience to rebuild it yet again. That was all he had done for days on end: change bandages, feed the greedy fire, and have long, drawn-out discussions with himself. He couldn't even talk to Kirara—she'd gone off to hunt the day before and hadn't returned yet. She was probably exploring, Inuyasha reasoned; after all,_she_ had the chance to escape. Why would she want to stay around the gloomy, quiet camp?

There was certainly nothing worth doing there. He would know.

Shortly after sunset, he pulled out one of the ramen packages from Kagome's bag and began to prepare the meager dinner. Their supplies were dwindling. Soon he'd have to begin hunting rabbit.

Sango and Miroku still hadn't stirred. Inuyasha was half-mad with dullness; he'd resolved earlier that day that if they didn't wake up soon, he would carry all of them back himself, for Kirara still couldn't carry them even if she was back—two of her paws were seriously injured, and the extra weight wouldn't help the situation. Sango would kill him if he allowed any more harm to come to her pet.

And he wanted to live to see the quest completed, if it humanly possible.

The water soon came to a boil. Inuyasha dumped in the noodles and the flavoring—this time without their stupid plastic wrapper, which wouldn't taste good no matter how long you cook it—and dumped it into three measly potions: one for him, Kagome, and Shippo. He didn't dare take any more, because there was no telling how long they would be stuck where they were (his notions of carrying them were stupid and reckless; what if something attacked him in the middle of it?). He then picked up the two bowls and went to rouse the others.

Shippo was sleeping peacefully for the first time in days, so Inuyasha passed him by, deciding to give him a few more peaceful moments in dreamland. Instead he knelt by Kagome and shook the girl awake.

Her cloudy eyes opened with difficulty, but she smiled drowsily as he pulled her into a sitting position. "Hi," came the sleepy greeting, halfway immerged in a yawn.

"Here," Inuyasha said, by way of responding as he handed over the bowl. "Have some Ramen."

"Mmph…I'm not hungry," she said groggily. "You eat it."

"You have to keep your strength up," he argued, pushing the soup back. "And anyway, soon we'll be having rabbit. So enjoy it while you can." Kagome shivered—they both knew how much she hated eating something that had been cute, alive, and fluffy a few minutes before—and accepted the bowl grudgingly. They munched together in contained silence.

"Shouldn't we wake Shippo-chan up too?" Kagome asked after a while, poking at the dregs of her noodles and glancing at the sleeping kit at her side.

"Yeah. I guess so." He watched as Kagome reached down and shook his little shoulder gently.

"Shippo, wake up please. It's dinner time." The kitsune's face contorted a little as if in aggravation of being disturbed, but his eyes didn't open. Kagome frowned worriedly and tried again. "Shippo?"

"He's probably just tired," Inuyasha offered as convincingly as he could. "Healing takes a lot of energy. Speaking of which, you should—"

"Don't you tell me I should go to sleep," Kagome said in an icy voice. The hanyou blinked in surprise. "I know there's something you're not telling me. What is it, Inuyasha?"

"Nothing, wench."

"Inuyasha!"

"What!"

"Tell me what's going on!"

"I already told you, stupid! There's nothing!"

They glowered at one another, each stubbornly refusing to look away. It was Kagome that surrendered at last. "I can feel it," she muttered. "I don't know what it is, but something doesn't feel right. And you noticed too, haven't you?" He looked at her, revealing nothing. "Haven't you, Inuyasha? Something's about to happen."

Inuyasha looked at the ground.

"I felt it last time, too, you know."

His gaze rose to meet hers. "Yeah…but there's nothing we can do about it. Kirara's still injured, and I can't take you all by myself. If something's about to happen, it's best that it happens here, where we have a chance of defending ourselves."

A light lit in Kagome's eyes. "Kirara. Where is she?"

"She went off to hunt yesterday."

"And she didn't come back?"

"Well, no," Inuyasha said, a little impatiently, "why would she want to come back _here_? There's nothing to do. I know _I'm_ bored out of my mind."

She waved his sarcasm aside. "Inuyasha, don't you see anything wrong with this picture? Sango and Miroku won't wake up for some mysterious reason. Kirara left and didn't come back, even though she never leaves Sango's side for long when she's injured, and we can't wake Shippo up." She stood and hobbled over to where Miroku and Sango were lying, bent down, and seemed to be searching for something. When she rose a moment later and walked unsteadily halfway back to her sleeping bag, there was something small held between her thumb and forefinger. "This seems like another one of Naraku's tricks to me," she said, throwing the poisonous dart at Inuyasha's feet.

"But…why?" Inuyasha asked. "What could Naraku get out of this?"

"Think about it," Kagome said impatiently. "Miroku and Sango are drugged, Kirara goes missing, either captured or injured further, and Shippo is placed under some sort of spell so that he can't wake up. Naraku fixed it so that we'd be stuck in this clearing."

"I think you're reading too much into this. Who's to say that someone else didn't shoot this dart at the others? Kirara's probably found something more interesting than sleeping humans out in the forest. And Shippo could just be tired. It's not impossible."

"There's dark energy all over the place, Inuyasha. Especially around Shippo-chan. And no one else would have a reason to shoot our friends with poisonous darts, especially in the middle of a fight with our greatest enemy. Naraku didn't touch them at all during the battle! It's too perfect to be just a coincidence. Something about all this doesn't ring true."

"Glad to see you've got your wits back," he teased lightly, sucking up the rest of his Ramen. "It was getting boring with no one to argue with."

"That's not funny."

The Halfling shrugged, picking up the two empty bowls and returning them to their place by the fire. "Are you thirsty?" Without waiting for an answer he walked over and pushed a cup into her hands.

Kagome looked at him for a second, then stared timidly into the liquid's depths. Inuyasha could almost see the fear in her eyes as the feeling of unease flared up—he felt it too. They both glanced about, and then at each other. And then the cup fell from her hands as she stumbled forward and fell into his arms.

"Kagome?!" Her head lolled limply onto his chest, and he could see the dart where it had struck her, just beneath her ear. The stench of Naraku filled the forest, accompanied by ill feeling that evil was near.

Inuyasha grimaced, lifting Kagome for the fiftieth time that week.

She was right.

They were trapped.

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Tailz: ::Crossly finishes pulling the tape from her face:: Yes…I know…it's not as long as my chapters normally are, but I'm updating, so go easy. I almost abandoned ALL of my stories last week. Almost. Let's just say there's been one trauma after another, and I just haven't had the will or patience to write these fics—even though I love them, and every single one of my impatient readers. But nobody's written me nasty e-mails, so I guess you're not too mad….

::Tailz is mauled by an angry mob of readers::

Tailz: AACK! Sanj! Help!!

Sanji: ::Glare:: ::Is tied to the chair::

Tailz: ::Sweat:: Um…is this why mom said revenge is bad?

Readers: **_GET HER!_**

Tailz: MEEEEP! ::Runs for her life::

Review fast for Tailzy! I wanna update, but not until I get some feedback!


	14. Last Chance

First off, I would like to take just a smidget of time to respond to reviews for once (since I actually got some respondable ones this time!)

Tailz: O.O Angel-Wing person… Wow, Sanj, you have fan mail!

Sanji: FINALLY! Erm…say, Angel… you're not gonna try to…er… trap me in a closet, are you?

Angel: ….?

Tailz: -; You mean, like Moogle did?

Sanji: **:Shivershudder: **

Tailz: - Eh-heh…well, super-omg-I-love-you-thank-yous to everyone that reviewed! I'm so happy! Could I take a second to respond to some reviews, Sanj?

Sanji: Well…it's your fic. You tell me.

Tailz: Yes, but…dare I risk it? Delaying the story usually makes the Angry Anti-Tailz Mob even angrier…

Sanji:Shrug: If they don't want to hear it, they can skip down to the chapter.

Tailz: - Good point! Okay, here we go….

_**THIS IS WHERE THE RESPONSES BEGIN! YOU ARE WARNED!**_

**Katty-kat:** Katty:Glomp: How are you, pouty-kins? Keep your chin up—I'll update just as soon as I can!

**Sanosa:** Oooooh, you're the clever one, aren't you? You'll just have to wait and see…that's right! Curse me! BWAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAa—

Sanji: Tailz…. Hurry up….

Tailz: I thought you said this was 'my fic'?

Sanji: And it is, but the Mob is sharpening their ladles again…. And this time they have thumbscrews….

Tailz: Hey! I was wondering where those things went!

Sanji: Tailz!

Tailz: Okay, okay, fine…

**Myeerah:** As a writer, I know I've got to try to get used to criticism… but it's really hard. T.T But at least you were polite about it… Yes, I know there's errors dancing all over the place in here. You're right; the fact of the matter is, I'm on such close updating time, I usually submit the chapter without reading it more than once, so I miss a lotta little typos and things. Bear with me—I'm trying, and one of these days I'm gonna go back and edit chapters 8 and 9.

**ChicaCubana: **Oooh, another angst-lover! Perfect:D Don't worry—you won't be disappointed.

**Silver's Shadow Tamer: **Oh! Oh! SHE DID IT! This person just told me what she liked best about the story! And threw in a little actual-review-crit as well! Thank you:Hug: (Now if we could just get everyone else to do that….:sigh:)

**AngelWing1138:** Wow. Thank you, thank you, _thank you_ for your nice long review! You made me giggle! And…yes, you've come to the right place. There'll be plenty of fluff, angst, drama, and action coming soon!

**Miara Rigawa:** Thanks for your input! I know there are a lot of mistakes… please read my response to **Myeerah**. As to the beads… I think it's been translated as both. You'll find a variety of fics that refer to them as both 'praise beads' and 'prayer beads'. In this fic, it's going to stay 'praise beads' until I get a chance to go back and edit everything. (Can't remember if I just thought it wrong or typed it wrong; sometimes my thoughts don't reach my fingers! -; ) Anyway, thanks again!

**iMmOrTaLwOuNd**—You brought up something interesting, and actually made me think for a second! If that—shifty glance around—**_plot device_** comes around, you and I'll know were it came from, won't we? And by the way—you didn't waste anything, you completely made my day. I love long reviews (and the people that write them. -) Please don't lose interest! I'll update as soon as I can! (Though that might not be saying much… -;)

**Keiko89**—Teehee! Another angsty-lover, huh? Good! Then you'll love what's coming next. :D

**Endless Moonlight—**Am I that evil? Haven't you been around long enough to know the answer to that question:Evil smirk: Of **_course _**I'm evil! But you also know that I'm a romance-lover and that I have a real soft spot for these characters…so maybe the evilness and my love for doggy-dude will even each other out. -; Maybe.

Anonymous **ahsay-uni**—Yes, you pretty much answered your question about the way I would. - If you like stories with Inuyasha's dad in them, you should check out my other story, Not Too Late. (As to this one, who knows? I'm not one to give away my own surprises! So maybe, maybe not.)

**Lone-Puppy**—Since you have some fics of your own, you're probably familiar with the term "filler chapter". If not, let me enlighten you—filler chapters may not necessarily be the most exciting of chapters, but they move the plot along and give the author/ess something to work with. As it were, I thought this chapter was pretty significant, but whatever. Maybe the next chapter will be more to your liking. (If you are in love with fast-moving plots, you'd best look elsewhere; I take my good time with my plots, and always lead up to them thoroughly.)

**YuniX-2**—- I missed you too! And yes…food for thought, isn't it? (Know what would be awesome? Send me what you think's going to happen in the plot. I'd love to compare it with my plot plan:D)

**Delonwethiel**—"It is always darkest before dawn." Don't you worry, I'm not giving up on any of my stories. It's just a lot to keep up with at once; that's why my updates are slowwwwwww.

**Secret-punk-rocker16**—hmm…even I don't know the full answer to that question. But it'll be probably be a good while, with a few more Humor-Tailzy-emotional-filler-chapters. (See my response to Lone-Puppy above.)

**Everyone else**—If I didn't mention you, don't get your feelings hurt. Notice that the reviews I answered gave me something to respond to. If you want to be answered, give me something thought-stirring, okay? I don't stick around when I'm bored. - Thanks for reading, everyone!

Sanji: _Tailz….! _

Tailz: Okay, okay. One more thing. I'm sure you've all noticed my increasing number of mistakes, huh? Would any of you be okay with being my editor? I'd send you the chapter a few days in advance, and you we could look for mistakes together. Two pairs of eyes are always better than one!

Sanji: IF YOU DON'T HURRY, WE'RE NOT GONNA HAVE ONE PAIR BETWEEN THE TWO OF US :Pulls Tailz down just as an arrow flies over their heads:

Tailz: Meep! Guys—!

—_**THIS IS THE END OF THE RESPONSES! NOW ONTO THE STORY!—**_

Inuyasha couldn't believe his luck. He was trapped with four unconscious friends in a small clearing with nowhere to run and no chance of hiding. It was a tactical disaster; his only able-bodied friend had left and not returned days before. He was by himself, and who knew how many enemies had been sent against him?

It occurred to him, despite his fear and pride, that Kagome had been dead on. Naraku's scent, while not exactly strong enough to be the real him, was all around them, and a glistening blue barrier had risen up from the ground. It had all the makings of a Naraku-style ambush. "Naraku," he shouted, knowing that the evil hanyou would without a doubt be observing, enjoying his trick. "Show yourself." Obediently, the evil cackling echoed around them_. Kukukuku._

"Hello, Inuyasha. Have you enjoyed your break?" He appeared to Inuyasha's left, between two large trees, an arm resting comfortably on each trunk. "I could've attacked you a million times since our last encounter, but I figured this way would be much more fun. Well," he amended, "more fun for _me,_ anyway."

"What are you trying to pull with all this?"

"Why, isn't it obvious?"

"If you'd just wanted us dead," Inuyasha said through gritted teeth, "you would've just done it. In the battle. You wouldn't have gone to the trouble of trapping me here and poisoning the others."

"Ah, very clever. You're much smarter than you look, aren't you?"

"Enough! I've had it with your games, Naraku! Tell me what you're planning!"

"That would be boring. Don't be so impatient, Inuyasha. A good plan needs its solid basis, doesn't it? Wouldn't you like to hear how the idea came about?"

"No." **_I've had enough of being toyed with,_** Inuyasha thought. **_This ends now. _**

"To be frank, I got the idea from dear Kikyou-sama." Naraku smirked as surprise and then fresh anger flitted across his opponent's visage. "I think you'll understand perfectly in just a moment, when the last addition arrives…or would you like a taste right now? A small preview." He glanced over at the base of the large tree where his sleeping friends lay. Inuyasha watched, dreading, as Shippo's small body gave a lurch and slowly, clumsily, stood upright.

It explained the dark energy. Kagome'd been right there, too.

Without warning, the kit staggered and then lurched forward with startling speed. Inuyasha only just moved out of the way in time, clutching Kagome close and swearing. Shippo's feet had barely brushed the ground before he sprang again, his muscles tight and his small, sharp fangs bared, and this time he caught Inuyasha's sleeve in passing. The tough fire rat material tore like ribbon, and one fang scraped the skin of the hanyou's upper arm.

Something was strange about that bite. It hurt more than a little scratch should.

There wasn't exactly time to ponder over that anyway—Shippo's attacks were merciless. He leapt at amazing speeds without the slightest sign of fatigue, and he did it again and again, each time with better accuracy. Inuyasha received cuts everywhere from his face to his ankle; with a heavy burden in his arms and the kitsune's incredible recovery speed, he couldn't possibly block or evade them all. He was running out of time, and the aching of the small wounds were driving him crazy.

Naraku laughed a few feet away, clapping his hands in delight. "My, my," he drawled, "who would've thought it? The great Inuyasha, beaten by a little kitsune brat—the very same that he has traveled with! If only your dear father could see you now." He laughed again, lightly, and then waved a palm dismissively at them. "All right, my little puppet, that's enough. Let's give him a chance to agonize over his shattered pride before you take him down."

Inuyasha panted a little, backing a few steps from Shippo's tense form. It had settled in a kneeling position, head half raised, smoky eyes watching them impassively. He didn't have long to formulate a plan. It would have to be fast.

There were not, by any means, many things to use to his advantage. Sango, Kagome, and Miroku were not helping; Kirara was still missing; and Shippo had been turned into a formidable little red bullet. The odds were not in his favor. **_If only Kirara would come back, _**Inuyasha thought, gritting his teeth in frustration. **_We might stand a chance then. _**

It was then that the bushes rustled, and Inuyasha's wish was granted. For a second, he almost thought that—for once—fate was being kind, doing him a favor, but the moment quickly passed. The look in Kirara's giant red eyes was the only assurance that he might need to prove what he had already knowm: fate has a cruel sense of humor.

The fire cat walked confidently over to Naraku and stood before him, her teeth bared menachingly.

_**Not you too, Kirara! **_

Now, I hope you'll forgive Inuyasha if at that moment he realized that the situation had gone from bad to infinitely worse, and for a second he considered turning tail and running for it. But, as you and I both know, it is not at all in Inuyasha's nature to turn tail and run from anything. So he didn't. But that's not to say he was stupid—far from it. All the chances he had hoped for were dwindling with the moment.

"Well…what do you think, Inuyasha? Do you _still _have a chance of escaping alive?"

"Yes." The word escaped Inuyasha's mouth before he could think about it, and he took courage. "You've failed to kill me before, Naraku. This time's no different."

"No different?" Naraku's sneering voice remained calm, but malice radiated about him as well as the amusement and joy at the idea of his adversary's doom. "Very well. We'll see, won't we?"

"Then stop talking and get on with it. Why don't you stop hiding behind my friends and fight me yourself?" He smirked. "I thought you were the superior half-breed, Naraku."

"Fight you myself? Feh, Inuyasha, you can't even draw your sword! You're much too busy babysitting your pitiful human wench."

There could be no reply to that; it was true. Inuyasha glanced uneasily down at Kagome's still face. Dare he put her down to draw Tetsusaiga? Naraku would be bound to try something. Inuyasha swallowed, and he closed his eyes in quiet prayer.

_**Forgive me, Kagome, but this is our only chance. **_

**_You'll be safe. I promise._**

If anything happens to you… 

Slowly, quietly, Inuyasha moved a few feet away from Naraku and set Kagome's still body gently upon the ground. Tetsusaiga would only transform when he was protecting a human, and this time, as he drew it with every curse he'd ever known upon his lips, the sword seemed to explode into its huge size.

_**Don't fail me, Tetsusaiga. **_

**_If you and I are defeated, Naraku will not hesitate to destroy the others._**

Inuyasha leapt forward with a cry that rang throughout the forest.

"DIE, NARAKU!"


	15. Kouga's Tale

Tailz: Hey everybody! Thank you all so much for reviewing last chapter! We love you!

Sanji: **:Begins handing out thank you cookies:**

—**THIS IS WHERE THE REVIEW RESPONSES BEGIN—**

TrisakAminawn—You are such a sweetheart! Thank you so much for the nice long reviews! There was so much in them that I wanted to respond to….but I've got to do my homework, so I'll just respond to the bit about Sanji. See…. 

**a)** He isn't worried about what goes on in the fics because he always knows what's going to happen. He's from my imagination, so he knows it pretty well.

**b)** Heh…I'll let you explore that 'paradox' by yourself. -

Sanji: Well… it IS kind of weird to have me co-hosting your fics when I'm not technically 'born' yet….

Tailz: Hush, love. Okay… where were we?

**c)**I'm glad you enjoy the author's notes! They're so much fun….and I'm sorry I'm not adequately responding, but… you know.

**Moogle—**AAHHH! YOU'RE BACK! **:Glomps:** And with a great big review! Oh, I missed you so much…. I thought you'd gone and lefted us! -; Sorry about the cliffy, but…that's as much my style as the angstyness. You know that.

**Inucrazy—**So you're the one who wants to edit the chappies, huh? Well okay—starting with next chapter, you'll find them in your inbox as soon as I'm finished! (Though if you don't check fast enough, I might go ahead and post it incomplete…tee-hee. I trust you, though. Thanks!)

Everyone else: Please don't be offended that I didn't mention you. I love you all! Thanks so much for reviewing!

—**THIS IS WHERE THE REVIEW RESPONSES END—**

* * *

"Do you think she's going to be all right?"

"Shippo, would you stop asking that already!"

"Be nice to him, Inuyasha. It's not _his_ fault that Naraku got away."

"No, it's yours! If you and Miroku could've—"

_Thwap. _Inuyasha's words faded off into a continuous stream of curses hissed between gritted teeth, and footsteps approached. "Kagome-chan," whispered Sango's voice, close and directly above. "Please wake up, Kagome-chan."

As if spell-bound, the young priestess-in-training opened her eyes and sat bolt upright, flinging Shippo, who had been napping on her lap, clear across the room. Instantly the cabin grew quieter. All attention turned toward one person alone.

"Kagome!" wailed Shippo, latching around her middle. "You're okay!" The others looked up in interest and moved a little closer, blinking in surprise. The second that Shippo let go and backed away a quarter of an inch, Sango threw her arms around her friend and they laughed together. Kagome smiled. **_It's been so long since we've laughed… any of us._**

"I'm so glad you're okay," Sango said, finally pulling away.

Kagome shook her mussed hair from her face. "Don't be so serious! It's not all that bad, is it?"

"Not that bad?" Inuyasha's silence had been weird enough, to be sure, and he had decided to make his presence known. "Not that bad? You almost got yourself killed again, you idiot!"

"Idiot? _Me_? I _tried _to warn you!" She wrinkled her nose in disdain and mocked, "'You're reading too much into this.' I told you! But nooooooo. Mister High-And-Mighty won't believe anything that he doesn't think of himself! The problem is, he can't realize anything before we're up to our ears in whatever trap Naraku's thought of." Kagome pushed back the covers decidedly and stood up, shaking her legs to wake them up and turning in a semi-circle. She was apparently ignoring—but nonetheless, enjoying—the fact that she had left Inuyasha speechless, trying to come up with a good comeback.

For a moment, everything was peaceful. Kagome's eyes scanned the room, and the triumph of besting Inuyasha faded from her face for a moment.

"Hey, guys…where's Miroku?"

Sango spoke up first. "He's just outside. Praying, last time I checked."

"Should we go find him?" Kagome asked doubtfully.

"Just leave the monk where he is." The irritated half-demon backed up against the wall with a sullen glare at the others. "He can't grope anyone while he's out there, can he?"

"Good point." Sango laughed. "Very true. But he hasn't had his breakfast…" Her face became pensive, and she added slowly, "Hey…houshi hasn't had his breakfast. Why don't I just take it to him?" She gathered a bit of foodstuffs from a nearby mat and, with a wry smile over her shoulder, called Shippo to her and left. The kitsune cast a curious eye over them before scampering out reluctantly.

Outside, a certain demon-slayer's voice rang out, slightly shaky with contained laughter: "Ohhh houuusshhiii-samaaa…."

Silence. Kagome fiddled with her fingers, and Inuyasha stared at the doorway beyond her. Finally, with hesitation evident, Kagome murmured, "So…Inuyasha…."

He looked up. "What?"

Her eyes, rising up to his face, were serious. "What happened…back in the clearing? How did you escape? We were cornered."

Inuyasha dropped his gaze. **_You have no idea, Kagome. _**

"What happened?" she repeated.

The reply took an exaggerated amount of time in its coming. "After you were hit with the poison dart…Naraku attacked. His tactics were…creative. But we escaped. That's all you need to know."

"But _how_?" The hanyou's mouth clamped shut stubbornly, and Kagome felt an extraordinary urge to take him by the shoulders and shake him. "How?" she pestered. "Don't you think I have a right to know?"

Inuyasha opened his mouth, probably to say that he did _not_ think she had a right to know, but the words never left his mouth. At that precise moment, the door of the small cabin swung open with exaggerated force, and the light was blocked out by a proud figure clothed in various skins. Kagome blinked incredulously.

"K-Kouga! What are you doing here?"

"Kagome," said the wolf-demon heartily, crossing the room and gathering one of her hands into his. "You're awake! How are you feeling?"

"Fine, Kouga… but…what are…?"

"What am I doing here, right?"

"Yeah…."

"What, dog-turd didn't tell you?" His face burst into a smirk as Kagome shook her head no. "Heh. Probably still having trouble admitting that I saved his whiny ass back there with Naraku."

"You what?" Inuyasha and Kagome asked together, though the emotions behind their words were considerably different. Kagome cast a curious glance at Inuyasha before asking, slightly sardonically, "Oh, you did? Well, a _certain somebody_ won't tell me anything, so maybe you'd like to share…er…your side of the story?"

"I'd be glad to," Kouga said joyously. "C'mon, let's go somewhere a little more… private," he said, with an exaggerated smirk in Inuyasha's direction. And with that, he lifted Kagome into his arms and strode out the door. Kouga was fast, but he could not run from the cabin fast enough to avoid hearing a furious stream of curses from the direction they were leaving.

"This'll be just fine." Kouga's sprint became a mellow stroll as they approached a rare path lined by the most extraordinary wildflowers. He picked a pretty pink one and handed it to Kagome with a chuckle. "So…what's the last thing you remember?"

"The dart," Kagome said. "Naraku knew I would figure it out. I can't figure out why he let me say so much…" She dazed for a moment, then said hurriedly, "But…when did you get there. Kouga?"

"Well," said the wolf-demon, puffing himself up indignantly, "when _I_ got there, dog-turd had just pulled out that sword of his—"

"Tetsusaiga."

"—right, and he was screaming something—"

"Oh, wait. Let me guess. 'Die, Naraku', wasn't it?"

"Kagome," Kouga said with a raised eyebrow, "I thought you wanted to hear my side of the story."

"Oh, right. Sorry. Continue."

"Anyway, when I got there….ugh, I just wanted to kill him."

"Who, Naraku?"

"No, that stupid mutt!" The indignation was back again in full force. "I don't know what he was thinking, setting you down like that—leaving you unprotected for any of them to attack you!"

"Wait," Kagome stopped him. "Who…what 'them'? Was someone else attacking?"

"Yeah, only every one of your traveling companions." Kouga raised an eyebrow critically. "I forget you missed all of it, Kagome. Actually, I'm glad you did. It wasn't all that pretty."

"What happened?"

"Well… Naraku put every last one of them against Inuyasha, and if it weren't for me, it would've been all over for both of you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean he couldn't kill any of them. They would've just kept attacking until they finally got to him. Or, worse, to you."

Kagome was silent for a long moment. Then she asked, "How did you finally escape?"

"Simple," Kouga said. "I knocked the zombie humans and that twit over the head and slashed Naraku in two. The thing is, it was just another stupid puppet…again. Around that time, that big cat demon—"

"Kirara."

"—she ran off right after we destroyed the puppet."

"Kirara's still being controlled?" Kagome gasped. "But…why didn't you chase her?"

"Chase her? We had bigger problems to worry about. We had _you _to worry about." He paused before adding, "Well, you and the rest of the humans. And the kitsune brat too."

"I'm surprised you two didn't kill each other," Kagome said with a small laugh. Kouga scratched his head.

"Actually… the thought didn't cross my mind. I told dog-turd to shut the hell up and worry about getting his pathetic friends somewhere safe before Naraku came back. He didn't say a thing the whole time."

The images formed by Kouga's words ran through her mind in a tizzy of color. She could see it perfectly: the both of them, crashing through a dark forest side-by-side…the idea that they had teamed up in the last moment to save everyone's life was truly ironic. Bizarre.

Kagome's expression faltered suddenly as she was broken out of her reverie. "Kouga," she gasped, and the wolf-demon stopped walking.

"I know," he said. "I sense it too. And there's blood up ahead. Lots of it." Slowly, he set her down. "Dog-turd's got to have smelled it too. Go back to the cabin and tell the other humans not to bother." With that, he dashed off in the direction they had been headed. Kagome hesitated for a split second, then turned on her heel and ran as fast as she could.

"Why do I have to stay behind?" Inuyasha muttered between clamped teeth, holding the bundle of newly caught fish with a murderous expression. Sango continued about her work of gutting and cleaning their dinner. She carefully set the fish upon the tray in Miroku's lap, and he began seasoning them with the herbs they had just picked while saying a hurried prayer for the fishes' forgiveness.

"Because, Inuyasha. If you'd just Kagome-chan what she'd wanted to know, she wouldn't have had to resort to asking Kouga."

"There, there, my friend," Miroku consoled, stuffing a green plant's squashed leaves down a fish's limp body. "Don't be jealous. We all know where Kagome-sama's heart truly lies." That remark earned him a new lump on the head and Sango an ironic chuckle.

"All right, children, play nice," she said. "We wouldn't want—"

"Sango! Miroku! Inuyasha!" Kagome's shrill voice cut Sango's sentence off cleanly. Inuyasha stopped pounding Miroku's skull in and leapt to his feet with both hands flying to Tetsusaiga. Kagome emerged from the bushes, red-faced and breathless.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha was at her shoulder in a second, all sullenness forgotten. "Is something chasing you?" **_Where's that stupid wolf, anyway?_** **_Did he let something happen to you?_**

"There's been—another—slaughter—" Kagome panted. "A village—ahead—"

"A slaughter!" Sango pulled Hiriakotsu from its resting place on the ground beside them. "Where's the village, Kagome-chan? Did you get a good look at the murderer?"

"No. J-just sensed it. K-Kouga-kun said there—there was—blood," Kagome mumbled. Her head felt light from all the running. She leaned against Inuyasha's shoulder, and his clawed hands quickly came to her sides to steady her.

"Impossible," Inuyasha said. "If there was blood, I would've smelled it from here."

"We'd better go check it out," Miroku said quietly. "Just to be sure."

The others nodded. It was agreed.

As they neared the end of the wildflower trail, Kagome stopped them with a small hand gesture.

"Here," she said. "This is about where Kouga-kun left me." Inuyasha moved to the front of the group, drawing Tetsusaiga. His face was strained.

"Kouga was right," he muttered. "There is blood up ahead. Lots of it." **_How could I have missed this scent before? It's dizzying… _**

"Get ready," Inuyasha said. "Come on, let's move together. Kagome, you and Shippo stay near the back with Miroku."

They nodded again mutely, moving together in unison with practiced precision. Inuyasha slashed away at the branches that were suddenly thick, creating a barricade, and everyone leaned forward to glance over his shoulder.

"Oh…Kami," Sango breathed.

* * *

Tailz: Ah! This chapter was so short! Sorrryyyyyyy, guys! Super-sorry… but this was a fast update. And if you hated me for my cliffy last chapter…wow, you must want to kill me now! -

**:Tailz is almost impaled by a flying foon: **

Tailz: OO Erm… g-guys?

Sanji: TAILZ! GET DOWN! **:Dives over and knocks your authoress out of the way: **

Tailz: What more do you want! I'M UPDATING! I'M WRITING THIS STUPID FANFICTION! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!

Angry mob: **:Pauses in surprise, mouths hanging open:**

Tailz: …..

Sanji: ….There, there, Tailzy. I know the algebra sucks, but you can't take it out on our readers! They'll get angry!

Tailz: They're _already _angry!

Sanji: Well, good point, but… GHAA! WHAT'S THIS!

Tailz: OOH! It's a review from Moogle:Jumps up and down in excitement: HOORAY! Hi, Moogle!

Moogle: **:Blinks:** I'm…in an author's note.

All: ……

Moogle: Awesome! Hiya, Sanj!

Sanji: **:Moves to stand behind Tailz: **

Tailz: Coward!

Angry mob: **:Recovers from shock:** GET HER!

Tailz: EEEP! **:Runs: **

Moogle: Oh no you don't! **:Pulls out the ladle:**

Tailz: Hooray! The ladle returns! And it's not after my head!


	16. Another Kohaku

**Silver's Shadow Tamer-**You are absolutely, positively, 100, completely and utterly right. Well, maybe not _that _right…. I did kind of cheat you guys out on the battle scene, but, as several others have mentioned, drawn out battle scenes can kill a good fic, especially when you're not good at writing them… and I'm not. So I skipped over it to save my (and the fic's) dignity. Or what's left of it.

Sanji: Yeah. Tailzy's a horrible Godmoder.

Tailz: SILENCE! **:Zaps him off to Venezuela: **

**Moogle:-**Silly rabbit! You know that I never tire of your reviews, and they never ever annoy me. I love and adore each and every one of them. (And I will be reading the updates to A Demon Within as soon as I get the chance. I may have to read it from the beginning, though-it's been a pretty long time.)

Sanji: Not long enough, though. **:Shudders:** I'm still going through therapy from the last time we met…

Tailz: _Who's _the Godmoder again? You just cross-country teleported!

Sanji: Godmoder? Feh. I just caught a plane.

Tailz: Whatever….

Sango's words had pretty much summed up everyone's thoughts. They all stared, openmouthed, at the scene spread out before them.

It was a massacre. There were bodies flung out upon the grass in every direction. Adults, children…even stray dogs lay limply upon the streets. Most of them were facedown with blood cascading down their backs as if they'd been hit from behind while fleeing, but some were face up. Their eyes were wide, their mouths clenched shut with the hardening jaw muscles of the dead. The place stank of death and blood. Kagome covered her eyes and backed slowly into Miroku. He quickly put his hands on her shoulders to steady her.

They all stood, frozen in place, until a crashing sound from within one of the huts snapped them back into attention. Everyone with a weapon quickly readied it, Inuyasha still at the head of the group. As they watched, a tall, lean figure strutted from the hut with a 'humph'.

"What are you staring at, dog breath?" Kouga had lost none of his cockiness at the sight of the dead villagers. "What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost or something."

"Idiot," Inuyasha snapped. "Don't be stupid. Whoever did this is probably still hanging around."

"What concerns me," Miroku said gravely, "is that neither of you picked up on the scent of all this blood. These villagers have lain dead for a good while. Whatever killed them was quick and quiet."

Kouga was silent for a moment, his eyes glazed in thought. Yes, he seemed to realize, that was true. Why, when both his and Inuyasha's senses of smell were so superior to humans, had they not been able to smell all the putrid death that lurked around this place? This thought had already occurred to Inuyasha, though, and suddenly his head shot up with understanding.

"Shippo," Inuyasha said, whirling around.

"Huh?" Shippo squeaked. "Me? You think I did this?"

"That's crazy, Inuyasha," Kagome mumbled shakily. Inuyasha's gaze shot up at her voice.

"No…. it isn't. In the battle, back at the clearing. Shippo bit me, and Kouga too. I knew it felt weird…. Do you think that that has something to do with it?"

"With….what?" Sango asked.

"With us not noticing the smell of this stuff. It's everywhere."

"That's crazy," Kagome repeated. "Shippo-chan doesn't have a venomous bite. You know that."

Inuyasha's face was expressionless. "I wouldn't put it past Naraku to feed him some weird potion before attacking us." Even Kagome couldn't argue with that.

Everyone fell silent. "It is possible," Miroku said eventually. "Here, show Lady Kagome the wound."

Inuyasha lowered his sword point into the earth and yanked up his left sleeve. About halfway up his arm, a half-healed slash mark could be seen. It was an angry red, and Kagome, with her limited medical knowledge, suspected infection, or something like it, anyway. "Inuyasha," she said hoarsely, "you need to take care of gashes that large! Why didn't you have me look at this earlier?"

"Oh," said the half-demon sarcastically, "of course, silly me. When was I supposed to, wench, when you were unconscious or when you were running off with the wimpy wolf?"

"Who're you calling wimpy!" Kouga shouted.

"All right, children, that's enou-" Another crash silenced Sango's sentence effectively, and once again movement among the party ceased. Inuyasha flinched suddenly and threw the Tetsusaiga up before his face just as a blade of wind came flying at his face. Fifty-something more followed the first, and if it were not for Inuyasha and Sango's quick reflexes, they all would've been dead. Nonetheless, when the attack finally stopped, Inuyasha sported a cut shoulder and Miroku a slashed cheek. Kagome and Shippo blinked worriedly from behind the arm that the houshi had stretched out to protect them.

There was only one enemy with that attack and not one gasp of surprise as Kagura emerged from yet another one of the houses, her fan drawn in a sultry sort of position. "Well, well, well," she chuckled, "if it isn't my favorite boys-Kouga and Inuyasha. And their little fan club as well. What are you doing so far east?"

"Kagura," Inuyasha spat. "You killed all these people, didn't you?"

"Who, me?" the demoness asked innocently. "Why, Inuyasha, you give me too much credit. I didn't do _everything _myself."

Four pairs of shoulders stiffened, and everyone knew that was coming. Kagome clenched her eyes closed, but she could not block out Sango's deadly calm voice: "Where is my brother? _What have you done to him?_"

Kagura smiled her vampriss smile. "Kohaku? No, wrong again. One more guess."

No one answered. Inuyasha bared his teeth threateningly, and his voice was little more than a hiss as he spat, "Kagura, _let Kirara go_."

"Ah! Finally, you got it. I was beginning to wonder."

"Let her go," Inuyasha repeated, this time more forcefully.

"Well….all right, if you insist." Kagura snapped her fan closed and flung out her arm, leaning leisurely against the doorway of the hut. "Come on out, Kirara. Your dinner is calling."

Abruptly, a wall of a nearby shack seemed to explode. The building collapsed upon itself in a shower of dust, and suddenly Kirara was visible. Transformed, she stood her full height, fur bristled and wet fangs bared in an angry growl. Her red eyes moved unseeingly over her friends, not recognizing them, not pausing to consider mercy. Sango's hands shook upon Hiraikotsu. Blood was apparent on the fire cat's paws and her muzzle.

"Kirara," croaked the demon slayer. "Not-not you too."

Kirara leapt forward with all the intensity of a bloodthirsty opponent, snapping her jaws at everyone close. Kouga met her wrath first-he swore as she caught him off guard and ripped a fang across his wrist in passing. Inuyasha came next: he caught her teeth in a lock with the Tetsusaiga and held her at bay, his arms shaking with the effort. He slid backwards an inch or two, despite the fact that his heels dragged stubbornly through the soil. "Kirara!" he yelled. "Snap out of it! Sango-run! Hurry!"

But Sango did not run. She stood, trembling, and shouted out in a voice that sounded much stronger than she looked, "Move out of the way, Inuyasha."

"What?" he called back incredulously.

"I said MOVE!" She raised Hiraikotsu, and its surface flashed in the late afternoon sun.

Inuyasha cast a blank look in her direction, then turned back to Kirara and threw her backwards with all his strength. He ducked just in time to avoid being dismembered by Sango's boomerang as it flew forward, knocking Kirara down again just as she climbed back to her feet. Sango's aim was always true; it had made its mark. Kirara dropped to one knee on her left front paw, screaming in agony as the boomerang returned to its owner's hand. It was obvious that Sango had not meant to kill her demonic friend-nevertheless, Kirara's balance was shaky as she stood again.

"Kirara," Sango called again, her voice soft. She dropped Hiraikotsu and took a step forward. The fire cat growled.

"Sango," Miroku called warningly. But she didn't look back.

"Kirara," Sango murmured in tones of deepest calm, "I know you're in there. You'd never hurt anyone. Stop this."

"What are you doing?" Inuyasha yelled. "Don't be stupid!" She ignored him too.

With every step she took closer, Sango's voice became softer. "Kirara…don't let them control you. Please…." **_Don't be like Kohaku,_** she thought desperately. **_I can't stand another Kohaku in my life. _**She reached out a shaky hand, reaching for Kirara's muzzle-

And was met with snapping fangs. Inuyasha lurched to attention with Tetsusaiga in hand; Miroku held his staff at the ready, and Shippo wailed, "Sango!" But the demon slayer didn't move. She sat there, with her wrist in Kirara's teeth, whispering something so softly that no one else could hear it. Kirara didn't move, just stared up into her mistress's clouded face; her face revealed nothing, but her crimson eyes flickered in confusion.

"Kirara…" Sango said, and the cat released her arm.

Was it over? The group held their breath; Inuyasha's sword did not droop from its place in the air. Then, as suddenly as she had appeared, Kirara turned tail and dashed off into the forest.

"No! Kirara!" With a stumbling clumsiness, Sango reeled forward, holding her injured arm out as if to grab the cat demon and pull her back. Inuyasha caught her quickly by the forearms, holding her back despite her struggling.

"Well…I guess this is goodbye for now," Kagura said, with a farewell flick of her fan-Kouga shouted, "Look out!"-but it was too late to do anything; the blades of wind caught the tree over their heads. Inuyasha watched in horror as the old creature snapped right in two and crashed down upon his friends' heads. They never saw it coming, and they didn't have time to move out of the way.

_"Kagome!" _

Inuyasha and Kouga hurried forward. They glanced up briefly and wordlessly, meeting eyes, and then each of them seized an end of the log, and with an almighty heave, they threw it aside.

Sango was at the site first. She knelt and, hesitating a moment, gripped Miroku's arm and rolled him away from the others. He had apparently tried in vain to push Kagome and Shippo away from the danger, but, having been unsuccessful, had thrown himself over them instead. Shippo lay, protected, in the hollow of Kagome's limp arms; the schoolgirl herself remained unmoving.

"Houshi-sama," Sango cried. "Miroku… say something."

The monk coughed quietly. "It's all right, Sango," he said with a small smile. "Just a bruise or two."

"A bruise or two my ass," Kouga scoffed. Inuyasha bent forward and carefully pulled Kagome into a sitting position.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Kagome blinked slowly.

"Yeah…" she mumbled.

Kouga sobered up quickly. "Does anything hurt, Kagome?" he asked.

"No, nothing." She forced a smile that was too bright to be real. Inuyasha opened his mouth.

Shippo shook his head hurriedly from side-to-side. "My tail hurts," he complained. "Owwww…."

"Well, can you move it?" Kagome asked. She wasn't sure. Could Shippo's tail move to begin with?

"Yes," the kitsune answered. "See?" he turned around and twitched his little red fluff ball of a tail with a grimace. Kagome smiled.

"It's a miracle that that didn't do more damage," Miroku commented, leaning against Sango for support as he rose slowly to his feet. He then proceeded to lean against his staff as he surveyed the tree's great splintered edge. "We were lucky that the tree was already dying. If it had been heavier…"

"We get the point," Inuyasha said shortly. He took Kagome's hands and pulled her gently to her feet. "Can you stand?" he asked, hands still on her forearms. Everyone's attention turned to her.

"Um…yes," Kagome said. "D-don't worry about it! No trouble." She bent her leg gingerly and nodded. "Now… let's get back to camp, huh?"

"I guess we'll have to return in the morning to care for the dead," Miroku said quietly. "It's getting late…and everyone is tired."

There was a murmur of agreement. They all walked forward, some a little more slowly than others, leaning against one another for support. Inuyasha hung back for a second, glancing around the village suspiciously. A few feet ahead, he heard Kouga's sleek-sounding wheedling, "Do you want me to carry you, Kagome?"

"No, Kouga-kun," Kagome's voice said patiently. "We've been through this. You're _married_."

"Only practically…" The wolf-demon sounded sullen. Kagome laughed, and Inuyasha turned around to follow them. He still had humans to look after. There wasn't time to be staring into the darkness.

Back at camp, an inviting fire had been lit. The entire group was sitting around it, excluding Shippo, who was inside the cabin sleeping. A pleasant sort of conversation had broken out among them-Sango inquired politely about the wellbeing of Kouga's tribe, and he replied, sort of aloofly, that they were fine. He had been sullen since leaving the village, and everyone had a pretty good idea of why. Kagome moved around the circlet silently, avoiding everyone's eyes and tending to their wounds.

"Here, Sango-chan," she said, eyes down. "This might hurt a little. It's antiseptic-it'll clean your injury."

"I'm sure it's not that bad," Sango proclaimed bravely, holding out her arm. She flinched only a little when Kagome dabbed at her wrist with the damp towel. Within seconds the blood had vanished completely beneath neat white gauze binding, and Sango's shoulders relaxed visibly. "Oh," she said with a smile, "that wasn't so bad."

"Okay, Miroku. Your turn."

"There's nothing for you to bind, I'm afraid, Kagome-sama." He lowered his voice. "I'm much more worried about your condition. What's troubling you so terribly?"

Kagome leaned back on her heels and stared at the ground, carefully feeling for each of the bones in the arm that had protected her. "Nothing," she said. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Nothing broken. How about your ribs? Does anything hurt when you move?"

"I'm sore, yes, but that's only to be expected. Please, why don't you let someone else worry about you for a change. Are _you_ all right?"

"Everyone's worried about me more than enough." Kagome's bangs cast long, mysterious shadows upon her face. "I've been nothing but trouble. Just another burden to worry about."

"That's not true at all." Miroku's eyes glistened. "Is that what this is all about? That you think you're a burden. I see. Kagome-sama-" His tone suggested the approaching of yet another wise, fatherly lecture, but before he could say anything Kagome rose.

"If you're sure you're okay…" She moved next to Inuyasha, kneeling before him, head still bowed like a guilty servant girl. "Okay, Inuyasha. Let's see that bite of yours."

The half-demon opened his mouth to protest, but for the third time in however many hours he closed it against the words he had intended and obeyed, pulling his sleeve up to his shoulder. Kagome grimaced and closed her eyes for a moment, looking faint; but then the moment had passed, and she went to work determinedly, explaining as she went along each step of cleansing the bite. When at last she had finished and he, too, sported a tidy layer of gauze, the case snapped shut, discouraging any questions, and she moved along to Kouga, repeating the process again. Inuyasha watched her in surprise. Where had this sudden grimness come from?

"It's your turn, Kouga-kun." Kouga smirked and unbuttoned his shirt with pleasure, revealing a sharp puncture. He began with another witty line, but Kagome ignored him, delivering medical care with religious determination. Immediately afterwards, she excused herself and left for the cabin.

Inuyasha blinked and looked away. Was it just him, or was there sadness in her voice?

Tailz: Hmmm…. It's a little longer, but we're still not back up to my usual. I'm working on it, folks-not writing all this time has gotten me lazy! Oh no!

Sanji: **:Tweaks her ear:** You've got no one to blame but yourself.

Tailz: **:Scowls:** Moogle, would you care to do the honors?

Moogle: Why…yes! **:Swings the ladle over her head, then brings it to a screeching halt over Sanji's and raps him gently: **

Tailz: OO

Sanji: OO

Moogle: Er… I'm sorry! I just can't beat your creation, Tailz! He's too cute! **:Runs off to beat the Angry Mob instead: **

Sanji: Phew!

Tailz: Well… _I _certainly have no problem beating my creation! **:Grabs her mallet and turns off the lights so that the fic can remain PG:**

Sanji: OWW! OWWWWW! AAAHH-hey, wait a minute. That's the blow up mallet that I won for you at the fair!

Tailz: …. Hmmm…. Oops….

**:KABONK: **

Sanji: ….But that wasn't…. **:Flop: **

Tailz: B! Why'd you do that?

BMW: Because that Angry Mob paid me ten dollars? And another fifty if I do this….

Tailz: AHHH! NO, DON-

**:KABONK: **

**:Also, super-big thank yous and kisses to Inucrazy, who proofread my ficcy so that you guys can't gripe at me for errors! Thank you, babe: **


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